Role of Religious Leaders in Guiding The World to Peace and Harmony March 25, 2009.
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Impact of Culture in Developing Countries, August 22, 2008.
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New comments concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker April 17, 2008.

My opinion concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker

Message of Peace from Jesus and Prophet Muhammad

Islands of Peace: Hope of World Stability

China’s Transition into a Society of Social Harmony

China’s Transition into a Society of Social Harmony (Part II)

Capacity Development for Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies

Most Famous and Beneficial People in the World

The Crime of War in Iraq
Watch video tape presentation concerning the paper The Crime of War in Iraq by same author.
see also April 2009 Newsletter concerning this publication of this Paper and video.

The Criminality of War

Meaning of War

China in True Perspective

Prophet Mohammad: God’s Messenger of Peace

Capacity Development for Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies

Coalition of Peaceful Nations: Their Strength and Asset to the World

Characteristics of the Culture of War

Radiation of Great Spirituality: A Fountain of Peace Goes Beyond

America in True Perspective

Impact of Culture in Developing Countries, August 22, 2008
When we speak of the appreciation of culture we generally refer to the appreciation of arts that may include painting and music as well as theater and poetry. Cultural exhibitions that take place from time to time in various global areas tend to show what it has just been stated. Besides, the Olympics that have taken place in Beijing in 2008 revealed a vivid demonstration of culture. Culture may be viewed in many ways as transcendental in the sense that it is generally liked and respected by all people.
The enrichment of culture is the result of contributions made individually or collectively.

If we were to take a rapid tour around the world, we would be surprised to notice how many people of talent do exist in so many global areas. We should feel very grateful toward them because they have become the source of world enrichment. For those who might have visited France, they might have had the opportunity to listen to the cultural contributions made by Boudjemaa Zennouch whose talents in playing string instruments have instigated many to invite him to perform in a number of countries.
What is the real impact of culture on developing countries? Such an impact has always been proven to be both positive and constructive. Culture is viewed in general as the product of the good an individual, a group or an entire nation, as a matter of fact, has to offer. As stated earlier, culture deals not only with painting and music but also with poetry and theater. These are items that are instinctively sought by all people from every walk of life and profession. They are elements that make people feel interiorly fulfilled.
When we deal with culture in developing nations we need to make sure that we do respect and preserve their inherited culture. Besides, we could take the opportunity to bring to the natives of these less fortunate nations other cultures that would enrich or complement their respective cultures. In this process, we need to be gentle as to bring them peaceful music, the composition of uplifting poetry, and the proper use of the theater as to enable them to learn vividly from history anything that is positive and constructive.
When people learn and practice the art of sharing with each other their feelings of both joy and concern, there will never be room for war, which should become obsolete the sooner the better. In view of what has been stated, it is obvious that we cannot take the importance of culture lightly. Culture gives satisfaction and fulfillment to everyone involved and concerned.
Moreover, it is enables us to develop our sense of appreciation toward ourselves and others. It also enables us to bring peace and harmony in the midst of each community where everyone should feel a winner and no one a loser. The appreciation of culture should always be our goal in life.

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New comments concerning the Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker April 17.

Islands of Peace: Hope of World Stability
In view of this, the time seems now ripe when we need to reform drastically the institution of the military by changing it from an element of destruction into one of
construction. In other words, we need to find healthy means to enable the military change its negative image into a positive one. As conscientious and responsible human beings, we should all work to help turn as many nations as possible into islands of peace. The creation of such nations would
generate among millions of people positive and constructive energy that is bound to influence the rest of the world at a time least expected.
Of course, we need to establish good criteria to make this providential peace event on a global scale meaningful. Here are some of the criteria for a nation to qualify to
become declared as an Island of Peace.

China’s Transition into a Society of Social Harmony

China’s Transition into a Society of Social Harmony (Part II)
China represents one of the oldest civilizations in the entire history of our earthly society. Its dynasties managed to leave legacies that have enriched the culture of China in
many unique ways. By nature, the Chinese are very kind people and they try to be helpful with those around and with those they come across. They also tend to live in
peace and to let others live in peace as well. The only ambition the Chinese people seem to have is to see the members of their relatives and friends equipped with all the
vital needs of life.

Capacity Development for Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies

What a Revitalized United Nations Could do for the Entire World
It is obvious that the job of the United Nations Secretary-General has emerged to become the most important job in the world in terms of its tremendous potential to put pressure and to exert influence in bringing needed vital changes into proper perspective. If we were to analyze the history of the United Nations since it started in 1945, we would discover that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council served more as a detriment than an asset to this world-wide body of nations.

Most Famous and Beneficial People in the World

The Crime of War in Iraq
What is the purpose of having rules and regulations when we can disregard them at will at any moment we like? Since the early days of human existence, those that transgressed rules and regulations to the detriment of others always tended to be punished, sooner or later. In order for us to understand the seriousness of such violations, we need to understand properly the significance of laws. In order to do that, we must have a clear concept of the four hierarchical laws of which ascetical writers spoke over the past several centuries.

The Criminality of War
The New Webster Dictionary of the English Language describes criminality as a gross violation of laws that are either human or divine. It also alludes to crime as a great and atrocious wickedness.
Those that commit crimes are dubbed as villains. Criminals are viewed as wicked people who have emerged to become very dangerous to society. Most of them are prosecuted and put in prison or given
adequate punishments of some kind.

Prophet Mohammad: God’s Messenger of Peace
Although historians are not fully sure as to the exact year Prophet Mohammad was born, there seems to be a general consensus that he was born on April 20, 570 and died on June 8, 632 when he
was 56 years old. This was not an ordinary man by all means. He was deeply spiritual and often communicated with God, like a good son communicates with a beloved father. Initially, he was a shepherd
and later became a merchant. He spent each Ramadan fasting and praying outside Mecca, in a cave on Mount Hira.

Capacity Development for Peace Building in Post-Conflict Societies
Since the patriarchal society took over some six to eight thousand years ago, the culture of peace has been replaced with the culture of war. From excavations we find that in the matriarchal times
the world was characterized by true love, dedicated care, and genuine respect. People hugged each other and offered assistance to each other. This is due to the fact that women, by their very nature tend
to rule from the heart, which is the seat of love and compassion.

Radiation of Great Spirituality: A Fountain of Peace Goes Beyond
Over the centuries the world has been blessed with great spiritual leaders that have left behind them an indelible mark, which continued to work magic on future
generations. Some 2,500 years ago Buddha worked on elevating the spirit of those around him as to make them achieve the gift of happiness. Later, Jesus of Nazareth spent
his life on trying to instill in those around him great love for God and their neighbor.

Over the centuries the world has been blessed with great spiritual leaders that have left behind them an indelible mark, which continued to work magic on future
generations. Some 2,500 years ago Buddha worked on elevating the spirit of those around him as to make them achieve the gift of happiness. Later, Jesus of Nazareth spent
his life on trying to instill in those around him great love for God and their neighbor.

Holy Indian Guru at Work

The 20th century was blessed with Mahatma Gandhi who viewed peace as our greatest achievement in life. Mother Teresa, at the same time, chose to bring her love and
affection among the poorest of the poor. In this presentation we will focus on a holy Indian Guru that has been gifted with great and unique talents all of which were used
for the benefit of all people across every continent. His name is Sri Chinmoy Kumar Ghose who for a long time conducted meditation at the United Nations in New York.

This great spiritual leader radiated those around him with his spirituality that was characterized by prudence, humility, faith, hope and love. Wherever he was he radiated
in everyone his great spirituality. As a result, people managed to improve their life considerably. In fact, you could easily detect in all of his disciples around the world a
spirit of kindness, compassion, and dedication that is both encouraging and enlightening. Sri Chinmoy passed away peacefully at his house in Jamaica, New York on
October 11, 2007 at the age of 76.

He worked hard conducting meditations and encouraging his students to become increasingly more spiritual till the day before he left this earthly life. Although his
physical presence is no more with us, yet his spirit is deeply felt by his disciples and all those who came across him in life. This great servant of the Supreme, as he often
referred to God, can still be heard talking to us through the hundreds of videotapes his disciples made of him.

We may also listen to Sri Chinmoy’s wisdom by reading a few of the hundreds of books he wrote some of which were translated in several others languages including
Russian. We may also feel his spirit by simply watching some of his thousands of paintings of his all of which really elevates our spirit to a higher level of existence
reaching the angelic and the divine level. Moreover, this holy man of God expressed his deep spirituality and closeness to God through a variety of music that he
composed.

Acting as the Digitus Dei

Sri Chinmoy gave concerts very often in many cities around the world. In each concert he played some 50 different instruments. Apart from the piano he played virtually all
the string instruments one can possibly imagine. His compositions instilled great joy and peace in the hearts of all those listening to him. In fact, he could be described as
the digitus Dei – the finger of God, because he used to touch the hearts of people so deeply and so effectively. His spirit was so much immersed in God’s spirit that he was
viewed quite often to be a fountain of peace.

He led a life of great simplicity. He ate only what was nutritious and healthy and he exercised very often. He ran, lifted weights and played tennis quite well. Like St.
Catherine of Siena, he firmly believed that anima sana in corpore sano – a healthy mind is found in a healthy body. In fact, his thousands of disciples around the world all try to eat
what is conducive to good health and to perform physical exercises regularly. His disciples are said to have run hundreds and hundreds of miles most of whom regularly
as a routine.

Above all, Sri Chinmoy, like Jesus of Nazareth, viewed all human beings as children of the Supreme, that is, of God and he demonstrated great love and affection for all of
them. In fact, he developed great and genuine friendship with people from every walk of life and profession. Most of his friends were top government officials from
countries across the world. One of his greatest friends on whom he wrote a book that was illustrated with many pictures was former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

There is no need for us to enlist the numerous heads of state he met. One of his memorable meetings was with Pope John Paul II and with Mother Teresa of Calcutta with
whom he established very close friendship. He also wrote a book on Mother Teresa which was highly inspiring. Needless to say, he was highly esteemed by several UN
officials some of whom attended the meditation he conducted periodically at the United Nations. He tended to speak softly and briefly but every word he uttered was
deeply penetrating.

Ascetics tell us that when one is pleasing to God one is gifted with the seven gifts of the Holy Sprit. Sri Chinmoy was adorned with such gifts: wisdom, understanding,
counsel, fortitude, knowledge, compassion, and fear of God.

Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Let us try to form a good concept of these gifts in order to appreciate the great spirituality of Sri Chinmoy and to help ourselves realize why his life could be well described
as a fountain of peace.

1. Wisdom: This consists of one’s ability to distinguish between right and wrong and to see with clarity what is conducive to the universal welfare of all people without
exception.

2. Understanding: This consists of one’s ability to comprehend people they way they are in spite of their diversity in character and personality and to accept them with same
love and respect accordingly.

3. Counsel: This consists of one’s ability to advise people do the right thing in life in accordance with their God-given talents, educational and cultural background in order
to have one’s life be more productive.

4. Fortitude: This consists of one’s ability to exercise constant courage to do what needs to be done and to say what needs to be said in the best interest of all people’s
welfare around the world.

5. Knowledge: This consists of one’s ability to comprehend the various branches of available knowledge so that one could adapt better with people from every walk of life
and profession.

6. Compassion: This consists of one’s ability to exercise piety toward the less fortunate in particular following the footsteps of Mother Teresa and many holy people before
her over the centuries.

7. Fear of God: This consists of one’s ability to recognize fully well how greatly loveable and infinitely kind God is toward all people without exception and, as a result, one
is literally afraid of offending such a good and merciful God.

We may now realize why Sri Chinmoy was so successful in radiating great spirituality in so many. We may also comprehend why this saintly man may be viewed till the
end of times as a genuine fountain of peace.

Note: This write-up on Sri Chinmoy is the 900th article of Dr. Charles Mercieca.

Subject: The Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:35:12 -0500
From: "Charles Mercieca" mercieca@knology.net
To: "Spiritual Leader of the Global Community" globalcommunity@telus.net
April 16, 2008

Dear Friends:

Your negative statements about the Dalai Lama reveal, at the very least, that you have never read any book he wrote where he reveals the depth of his holiness and
spirituality.

This deeply spiritual man wants to help the Chinese through the opening of a dialogue with them who seem to have been reluctant to do so. I am not for this or that
man but I am for what is right in the best interest of the welfare of all people without exception.

You are dong a good job with your newsletter but this is an item you touched where you really went off guard. See comments in blue here below. Best regards.

Charles Mercieca

================================================

----- Original Message -----
From: Spiritual Leader of the Global Community
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 8:35 AM
Subject: The Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker
Volume 6 Issues 5 May 2008
http://globalcommunitywebnet.com/GIMProceedings/GNewsMay2008.htm
Politics and Justice without borders
theme

The Global Community consider the Dalai Lama as a dangerous religious extremist. He ought to be brought to justice. His crimes include:NOTE: If he is classified as dangerous then you have also to classify as dangerous such
historical figures of Buddha, Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu, in addition to numeorus others

a) organizing and leading deadly riots in Tibet for the purpose of putting down the Tibetan government and destabilizing China; NOTE: Not true.... he was not instrumental in this. The Dalai Lama is a wise man.

b) associating himself with President Bush and the White House; President Bush is a wanted criminal and the White House along with NATO have been shown to be rogue organizations worldwide, and criminal in nature; to
give speeches at the White House for the purpose of obtaining military help; to make a deal with the US that would allow the US to build a military base in Tibet in exchange of military help; to help the US continue destabilizing
China; NOTE: I do agree with half of these statements but I am not soure about the other half. In the event you are right in all of these statements, then I must say you may have a point. I personally consider the building of
foreign military bases anywhere in the world as an atrocious criminal action and those reponsible should be brought to justice and punished adequately.

c) violating the human rights of those workers in Tibet whether they come from another part of China or not; NOTE:This is obviously not true espcially that you attribute this to the Dalai Lama.

d) planning to destabilize China and that will have immense destructive and deadly consequences far beyond the area of Tibet and are a serious threat to NOTE: The Dalai Lama made it clear that he does accept Tibet as a part
of China but he insisted he wants to to see an autonomous administrative Tibet ruled mostly under Tibetans while following the guidelines from Beijing.

The fact that the Dalai Lama is aware of those consequences makes him even more dangerous. NOTE: The Dalai Lama may be aware of all the accusation you have made about him. But it is not true that he is to be held
responsible and accountable for riots that may develop in Tibet.

Table of Contents

The Global Community perspective of the Dalai Lama request for the sovereignty of Tibet and of his leadership as a peacemaker NOTE: The Dalai Lama requests sovereignty of
Tibet not in the sense that he wants to see an independent country from Mailand China. He simply want to see Tibetans administering themselves, preserving their language and
culture, while showing deep respect and submission to China at the same time.

Introduction
Who owns Tibet?
Historical facts
Ways to create nations
What is freedom? Does freedom bring up Peace? or war? Does living at Peace make demands on freedom?
Pathway to Peace amongst nations
Pathway to war and destruction
Global Community criteria for sovereignty
What is a Tibet at Peace and sustainable?
Global voting on the Dalai Lama claim of being the leader of Tibet and a peacemaker
Dalai Lama claim of being a peacemaker

What is the Nobel Peace Prize ?
Why was the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Al Gore in 2007 ?
Why was the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Dalai Lama in 1989 ?

Dalai Lama claim of being the leader of Tibet in exil
Global Justice Movement aspects
Global Community Peace Movement aspects
Global voting on the sovereignty of Tibet and its future
Global rights in Tibet
Conclusion
1) What have I learned from the history ?

The United States is viewed as a predominantly Christian nation. The U.S. Constitution is said to be founded on Christian principles. The concept of God as the
recognized Supreme Master of the entire country goes back to the early days of this land’s existence. In fact, the traditional motto has always been in practice: In God we
trust to save America, which is found printed in the U.S. currency as well as inscribed in several buildings.

Open Recognition of God

Today Americans as a whole may be considered to represent virtually all major religions. That would include, above all, Judaism and Islam in addition to
Christianity. Co-incidentally, these three religions, in spite of their traditional differences, all believe in one and the same God who is acclaimed to be the Creator of heaven
and earth, the very source of everything that exists and could possibly exist. Although each of these religions could be viewed as good and sacred, yet, the adherents to
such religions may not necessarily reveal this goodness and sacredness by the way they talk and by the way they act.

The Jews founded their religion on the contents of the Bible, which is also known as the Old Testament. The Christians also view this book as their source of
inspiration in addition to the New Testament, which has been conveyed to us by some of the disciples of the Master Teacher of Nazareth, commonly known as Jesus Christ.
At the same time, the Moslems also believe that the Bible is their sacred book to follow in addition to the Koran, which talks about some of the major teachings of Prophet
Muhammad.

What seems to be amazingly curious is to discover how the adherents to these three major religions dare to censure or disregard God’s Commandments, which are
enumerated as ten in the Bible. They are usually known as the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses. This explains why in this write-up we are referring to religion
in America as being cosmetic, that is, full of human additional touches that would try to make God’s will adhere to the will of the people in power and not the other way
round, as it was always expected.

A brief glance at the history of these three religions will enable us to see how their respective adherents at large tended always to act the same way when confronted
with similar problems. On the whole, they all reveal to have a conspicuously weak spiritual leadership, which explains the disappointments that have been felt among
many of their respective members. What happened to the Ten Commandments the way God handled them to Moses? For example, God said: Thou shalt not kill. This
means we should take this commandment as it is with no “ifs” or “buts” on our part, with no virtual exception whatsoever.

Human Relationship with God
Unlike God who is simple, human beings tend to be quite complicated. Each time they disregard any of the Ten Commandments, they always find an “excuse” they
could use by way of justification. To stick to the same example, in the case of murder they always try to find justification through such excuses as “self-defense and national
security,” besides others. What is disturbing lies in the fact that such religious leaders do buy these excuses and tacitly justify the open disregard of the stated God’s
Commandment.
Hardly any of the religious leaders of these three major religions dares to raise questions such as: How come the manufacture and indiscriminate sales of weapons, along
with the waging of wars, has become perhaps the most lucrative business in the world? How come many of those involved in such business transactions have become millionaires through the
infliction of so much pain and suffering? Besides, such Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious leaders need to explore why the U.S. government continues to arm to the teeth as
many nations as possible, under the guise of “national defense and security,” which has become a magic phrase.

The U.S. government says that it needs to equip its “allies” with all weapons and military equipment possible for purpose of defending themselves in the event they
are attacked. Even here, the American religious leaders of these three major religions, especially those that claim to be Christian clergymen, need to raise an additional
question: Is it possible that U.S. government officials are not aware of the fact that a country that is viewed as “ally” today may be viewed as “enemy” tomorrow, like it was with Iran under the
Shah, which then turned to emerge as “enemy” under the Ayatollah Khomeini?

Besides, how come the U.S. government continues to furnish neighboring countries, such as Pakistan and India with nuclear weapons? Such countries hardly ever
had any friendly and cordial relations. Is the USA preparing the way for the creation of future holocausts everywhere? This cannot be taken lightly since here we are
dealing with prospective real and extensive mass murders.
Conscientiously good Americans should raise at least one question to their clergymen: Why are you so vocal when it comes to the condemnation of abortion but you remain virtually
silent when it comes to condemnation of mass murder by the U.S. government through the manufacture and indiscriminate sales of weapons and the continued promotion of wars? An answer
to this question should be given right now and not the next time we sit in our backyard watching the stars!

Theological Teachings

From theological teachings, we learned that when one uses weapons to kill others not only the one that uses the weapons is guilty of murder, but also the one who
provided the killer with such weapons. If this is a fact, why is it the clergymen in the United States do not bring to the attention of their respective congregations this moral
fact? Why is it that such clergymen never warn their congregations of their moral obligation not to work for the weapons industry?

There have never been clergymen in America who reminded the members of their congregations that those who manufacture and procure such weapons share the
same identical guilt of those that afterwards use them to murder many innocent people, along with the destruction of their homes. This may be due to the fact that such
clergymen have created a new form of spirituality with a new set of beliefs, which amounts to the emergence of a cosmetic religion.

Such clergymen may render themselves pleasing to some political figures, especially those with financial interest in the transaction of weapons and the waging of wars.
However, clergymen, in virtue of their position, have a moral obligation to provide effective guidelines to people relative to the observance of God’s Ten Commandments.
If clergymen were to do their job properly, they may become valuable in replacing the culture of war with the culture of peace.

The creation of a cosmetic religion is not pleasing to God at all. The Pharisees did just that at the time of Jesus Christ who did not hesitate to call them hypocrites. He also
compared them to whitewashed tombs, which looked clean from the outside but stunk from the inside. Americans need to have as spiritual leaders clergymen who are
vociferous in their condemnation of wars and in the continued manufacture and sales of weapons.

Last but not least, it is encouraging for us to know that we do have a few courageous clergymen in the U.S.A. who joined peace-workers in the streets of the nation to
protest against armaments and wars, especially against nuclear weapons. Some ended up being put in jail but, like their Master Teacher of Nazareth, their day of triumph
seems to be approaching sooner or later.

When it comes to democracy and freedom, the United States has proved to be, perhaps, the most vocal nation in the world. This constitutes a great irony, which cannot be
taken lightly. As St. Thomas Aquinas well put it, nemo dat quod non habet – no one can give something that one does not have. The sooner that all Americans and the nations of the
world come to see this with crystal clarity, the sooner they could take appropriate and adequate precaution in dealing with the U.S. government, which is ultimately held
responsible and accountable for the proliferation of weapons and the continued promotion of wars everywhere.

Nation of Plutocracy

In theory the USA may be viewed as a nation of democracy, where the people are the masters of the nation. However, in practice the USA is a nation of plutocracy,
where the rich control the entire nation with iron fist. This explains why Pope John Paul II stated in Mexico during the decade of the eighties that world peace would
eventually come only after the two greatest evils of the 20th century are gone. He singled out these two as being communism and capitalism because, he said, “both achieve
their objectives through the exploitation of people.”

As long as the USA remains the seat of capitalism it would be a grave mistake to trust its foreign policies in particular. We witnessed from history that a nation
without genuine democracy tends to deprive its citizens from freedom in many ways. Unlike many other nations, the USA does not allow its citizens to travel in a number
of countries, including its peaceful neighbor Cuba. What was the real major offense of Cuba? It simply made it very clear that the economy of Cuba would be controlled by
Cubans and not by big U.S. corporations, whose job has always been to exploit the resources of other countries.

In spite of the fact that the said Pope singled out capitalism as one of the greatest two evils of the 20th century, you never hear U.S. clergymen condemning the
“exploitation” of capitalism. Besides, such clergymen never try to dehypnotize Americans from the false beliefs they have been fed through governmental propaganda that
tends to glorify weapons and the waging of wars, always under the pretext of “national defense and security!”

In conclusion, we need to explore from U.S. clergymen in general why is it they do not provide needed moral leadership by condemning the evil that stems
especially from U.S. foreign belligerent policies. God’s Commandments are crystal clear, in particular the one that says: Thou shalt not kill. People everywhere do not want
to espouse a cosmetic religion that has been modified to accommodate political abuses especially as they stem from the manufacture and indiscriminate sales of weapons
and the continued waging of wars.

Over the past few decades, the Middle East has increasingly emerged to become a malignant tumor of our earthly community. Like any other disease, this fatal malady can still be cured in one way or another, even through an unexpected miracle. During the past centuries, quite a few books were written on the nature of miracles that even skeptics, who had serious doubts, after giving a second thought, began to believe in such mysterious phenomena.

There must be a reason as to why the United States is viewed in the world at large as a violent nation. In the early stages of this nation’s history everything seemed to
be fine in many ways. However, as time rolled on, at least one segment of this well written document became obsolete, abusive and dangerous because it was no longer
applicable to our times. This segment has become nowadays a liability, a malignant tumor that needs to be surgically removed.

Original Intent of U.S. Constitution

Before we go straight into the heart of this vital issue, we need to learn the circumstances under which such a U.S. Constitution was written. We are focusing here on
the phrase: “people’s right to bear Arms.” The said document was drafted in 1787 and became effective two years later in 1789, under completely different circumstances. At
the time the U.S. Constitution went into operation, there were no airplanes, no trains, no busses, no cars, no telephones, and no radars. Once people left town mostly on
horseback, they were fully on their own.

There would be absolutely no one to protect them in any way whatsoever. Hence, this explains why the founding fathers found it wise to let people become their own
protection, their own policemen, and their own militia for all practical purposes. In view of this, we may understand, within the context, the reason for the insertion of the
“right to bear arms” in the second amendment, which states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary for the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall
not be infringed.”

Nowadays, several irresponsible US government officials continue to advocate the right for Americans to be fully equipped with weapons both unchecked and unlicensed.
This explains why in the United States every year there are more civilians killed by guns than in all the nations of the world combined. Such US government officials
continue to resist any step that may be taken to bring the proliferation of weapons under control.

At this stage of history, the United States has developed immensely compared to more than 200 years ago when it virtually started. Its population now has exceeded 300
million people who come from virtually every major country from across every continent. Its culture is rich as it has been formed from a fusion of the richest cultures on
earth. In the world at large, the United States is viewed as a democratic nation even though its capitalistic system has enabled big corporations to control the entire
governmental structure.

Nation of Plutocracy

As a matter of fact, many view this nation as being run by the rich and for exclusive interest of the wealthy. This is verified in time of elections especially when every
political candidate to be elected must in the first place reach as many people as possible. To this end, such a candidate needs to have an enormous amount of money to pay
the news media -- radio, press and television – for needed advertisements to reach the electorate. This means one has to pay from one’s own pocket money, in the event the
individual happens to be rich.

If the political candidate happens to have charisma but not much money of his own, then big corporations will find a way to exploit that charisma by financing the
campaign of such a candidate for their long-range financial benefit. This explains why so many in the U.S. Congress continue to vote to spend more and more money on the
manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of wars, rather than on the health care and education of the native population. It explains why they are opposing
President’s Obama health care plan.

It is not in the best interest of insurance and pharmaceutical companies to have competition from the US government. Deep inside they feel they would be fighting a
losing battle. So, they lobby with the US Congressmen whose election they helped to finance as to keep for the years to come their financial monopoly unchallenged, even
to the detriment of the American people. This, in a way, seems to be a blessing in disguise in the sense that it would be easy now for the American people to make a good
value judgment of their elected officials.

In view of this, we may now begin to understand why several US government officials continue to defend that constitutional phrase, “the right to bear arms,” even
though nowadays it emerged to become a malignant tumor that is literally destroying the nation from every aspect one can imagine. The manufacture and sales of
weapons and the promotion of wars has become the most lucrative business in the world. Those involved in this industry make big money fast and smooth, which is their
ultimate goal. It’s quite interesting for us to find out that the American motto is viewed to be: In God we trust.

Let us keep in mind here that in a capitalistic system the real God is not the heavenly God that Jesus of Nazareth conveyed to us. The nature of the capitalistic God consists
merely of wealth and money. This explains why the United States, for this capitalistic God, it is ready to do anything. That would include the proliferation of the
manufacture and sales of weapons in the entire world, along with the promotion of wars across virtually every continent. What counts in a capitalistic nation is the making
of big money by all means.

Disregard for Human Life

To this end, the life of the American people as well as the life of people everywhere becomes secondary. We may begin to realize with clarity why so many members
of the US government continue to defend the “constitutional right” for all Americans to purchase all kinds of weapons without the need of any permission or approval.
Some time ago a group of teen agers in California were asked the question: Do you find it difficult to secure guns? The answer was quick: “All we need is $45 dollars; we can buy
guns as easy as we buy candy!”

Those that are heavily involved in the business of the manufacture and sales of weapons are generally characterized by paranoia. They are so afraid of governmental
restrictions dealing with the purchase and sales of weapons that they are openly opposed even to the requirement of a license. Ironically, while no one objects to the fact
that to drive a car one must have a license, those that deal with the weapons industry do object for anyone to use a gun must first have a license. Now, in recent times they
went a step further.

The promoters of the gun industry are encouraging Americans to carry loaded guns wherever they go, even in political meetings where the US President happens to
be giving a speech. What is amazing is not that such promoters are doing their best to have as many Americans as possible carry loaded guns everywhere but that the US
government just stays there looking while saying and doing nothing. Confronted with this reality, many foreigners are beginning to become increasingly suspicious of the
US government.

Many have raised the question saying: “If the US government, for any reason, cannot assume the responsibility to prevent needless fatalities among its civilians by bringing guns
under full control, how can we expect such a government to help prevent needless fatalities among our people?” Others have expressed surprise and disgust at the same time when
seeing this “cancerous” phrase, referring to the “right to bear arms,” is still not yet abrogated from the US Constitution. They feel that the continued presence of such
“cancerous” phrase may end up doing more harm for the American nation in the long range.

In some institutions of learning, students tried to use logic to prove the futility of the retention of such a malignant phrase. At one time, a few students said they
would like to ask every single member of the US government who supports the continued existence of this dangerous constitutional phrase the following question:
“Suppose you are in the midst of an auditorium watching a stage show with five 5,000 spectators in it. What would make you feel safer if you and every single spectator there with you carry a
loaded gun, or if neither you nor anyone there sitting in the auditorium with you is carrying no gun at all?”

Total Elimination of Guns

Needless to say, will not people everywhere feel safer when they are shopping in a mall, attending service in a church, walking in parks or strolling on the beaches
where absolutely no one there is carrying a loaded gun? Will really people feel at ease when they know that there is always the possibility of someone coming out to shoot
them for any reason whatsoever? From a variety of studies made over the years in the USA, those that want to carry with them a loaded gun are generally those who feel
insecure in some way or another.

When Barack Obama was campaigning to become the U.S. President he promised that he would bring lobbyists in Washington DC under control. As to whether he
would succeed to do so remains to be seen. The lobbyists, on the whole, are characterized by selfishness whose only goal is to get what they want even to the detriment of
the American people. To this end, US government officials who allow themselves to be controlled by lobbyists should be viewed as traitors of the American people.

We need to train a group of lawyers to be conscientious and patriotic as to take the initiative to bring to justice all US government officials who succumb to such
vicious lobbyists. Here we are faced with methodical corruption that cannot be tolerated any longer. To turn insult into injury, quite a good number of U.S. Senators and
Congressmen have prided themselves in the past as being owners of guns. They also pointed out that the fact that all Americans can carry loaded guns with them reveals a
freedom that everyone enjoys!

This is far from freedom. It is permissiveness which always leads to lawlessness, and which explains why children in U.S. schools have shot and killed other
children along with their teachers. It also explains why we have had some entering malls shooting and killing everyone they come across. If everyone in the USA can carry
loaded weapons, then what are the policemen doing? What are the members of the military doing since people have been allowed by the US constitution to become their
own policemen and their own militia?

Let us assume that in a town everyone is born and raised healthy. There is no sickness, no disease around. Everyone enjoys doing daily physical exercise and eating
right. Now let us assume that after several years an epidemic sweeps this town and for people to survive they must have medical attention. Such people are now
confronted with a choice: They may either choose to take needed medication to regain back their health and keep on living for a long time, or they may choose to refuse
their needed medication and simply keep on living through this epidemic, which eventually will, sooner or later, prove fatal.

Abrogation of the Malignant Tumor

At this stage of history, the U.S. Constitutional phrase “the right to bear arms” has proven to have become fatal, a detriment for the continued survival of this nation
in the long range. It has become abusive for it has already threatened in numerous ways the very life, serenity, security and peace of the American people. Ironically, the
USA is viewed as a predominantly Christian country who professes belief in Jesus of Nazareth as being the promised Messiah of the Old Testament. This Master Teacher
spent His lifetime preaching against violence.

In fact, Jesus warned the Pharisees saying: “The God you preach is not the God I know. You preach a God that advocates the ’eye for an eye and the tooth for a tooth.’ The God I
know is a God of love and mercy… a God that when you strike Him on the cheek He would rather turn His face to let you strike Him on the other cheek than to retaliate.” In other words, in
the Old Testament God was presented as one who advocated the ‘eye for an eye and the tooth for a tooth.’ While in the New Testament God was presented a one who
advocated ‘love and mercy.’

The two nations in the world that have been viewed as being violent because of their continued reliance on the manufacture and sales of weapons and the
promotion of wars have been singled out as the USA and Israel. When it comes to the Old Testament both of these countries stand firmly together. They believe in a God
that advocates the ‘eye for an eye and the tooth for a tooth,” a God of hatred and revenge. They differ somewhat from each other when it comes to the New Testament.

Israel rejects it since the Jews in general refuse to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. The USA accepts the New Testament but only in theory. In practice, the USA
rejects it also. This explains why in U.S. Churches you hardly ever hear one church minister preaching on the words Jesus said to Peter: “Put the sword away for he who kills by
the sword will die by the sword.” You never hear one church minister condemning the violence the U.S. Military brought in both Iraq and Afghanistan, under the guise of
“bringing freedom and democracy!”

To go back to where we started, the United States is a capitalistic nation whose ultimate objective is the never-ending building of a capital. Because of this, the
American government is more business-oriented than people-oriented. This means that the primary concern of the U.S. government lies with the boosting of the interests of
big corporations, even to the detriment of the nation’s people. The adamant resistance to the abrogation of the stated malignant tumor “the right to bear arms” that
developed in the U.S. Constitution proves the case that is being made in a tangible way.

Still Bright Hope in U.S. Congress

Fortunately, we do have quite a few members of the U.S. congress who would be ready to do something substantial about the nation’s proliferation of guns and all
kinds of weapons. There are many things that they could do. They may introduce a constitutional amendment to abolish the second amendment that gives all Americans
the “right to bear arms” unchecked and unsupervised. They may also take the initiative to pass a national referendum asking Americans two simple questions:

1.“Do you feel more secure if you and everyone you come across in the nation is carrying a loaded gun… or do you feel more secure if neither you nor anyone you
come across in the country is carrying no gun at all?”

2. “In view of this, do you want to see the U.S. constitutional phrase “the right to bear arms” that was inserted at a time when there were no trains, no airplanes, no busses,
no cars, no telephones and no radars, to be abolished?

Let us keep in mind that in the United States, the American people and not the government, big corporations and the wealthy, are constitutionally the supreme rulers of the
nation. If the U.S. government is more interested in serving the interests of big corporations and the wealthy, such a government cannot constitutionally have the last say if
it contradicts that of the American people. This explains why it is important that we have as many humanitarians, lawyers and judges as we can to work on having the
involved constitutional cancer gone.

In conclusion, we would like to see in the United States the abolition of all kind of domestic violence that comes through easily available guns and all kinds of weapons.
Spiritual leaders from every walk of life and profession and from every religion and culture should start advocating in the open with constant persistence the end of
violence that takes place continuously through the proliferation of these lethal elements. The greatest task facing schools and churches lies in bringing domestic violence to
an end the sooner the better.

There has never been a country in the history of the world that has occupied the minds of so many nations as the United States. A person is best judged not by the
looks, outfit, wealth and power but rather by the character and personality. These two elements are generally viewed as sources of credibility and predictability. This
means everyone knows where one stands with such a person in a way that would make us feel comfortable and at ease all the time.

Positive and Constructive Aspects

If we were to read several books about the United States we will soon discover how different they may be. In fact, each of such books may sound to be talking about
an entirely different country that happens to bear the same name. The reason is simple. We may view an object from 360 angles each one of which tends to give us a
somewhat different perspective. Churchmen, for example, may prefer to focus on American traditional spiritual values that may include week-end participation in
religious services, the invocation of God’s name in prayer before every major event, and families united in love and friendship.

Several news-reporters tend to focus on a variety of sports, football in particular. In fact, quite a few millions do not miss watching some tournaments especially in
their final stage. Of course, the list in this area may go on and on. Humanitarian groups, along with philanthropists, talk often about their favorite charities, which may
serve to help the handicapped and the homeless as well as the poor and the hungry. In this regard, the United States donates yearly more money for just humanitarian
causes than any other nation on earth.

In terms of virtue, Americans in general are viewed to be good and trustworthy. Most of them have visited several countries as tourists. In virtue of their presence,
they proved to be the best ambassadors of good will that the United States ever had. Until a couple of decades ago or so, Americans were not only liked but, at times,
envied as well. As a matter of fact, many foreigners felt the desire to immigrate to the United States and become also citizens. All of this reveals some of the positive and
constructive aspects of the United Sates.

We need to keep in mind that viewing the United States from the aspects that have just been presented is not the same as when viewing this same nation from
entirely different angles. The United States is a capitalistic nation that is ruled in practice by big corporations, which finance the election of virtually every senator and
congressman. Hence, although in theory people elect their government officials to represent them; in practice such government officials represent, first and foremost, the
interests of big corporations even when proven to be detrimental to the American people.

Evil of Communism and Capitalism

When Pope John Paul II was asked in Mexico during the decade of the eighties as to whether world peace was feasible he did not hesitate to give a quick reply. He
said clearly and emphatically: “Yes, world peace is feasible but only after two of the greatest evils of the 20th century are gone.” The he added saying: “These two great evils are
communism and capitalism because both try to achieve their goals through the exploitation of people.” Some three years later, communism collapsed and the world took a great sigh of
relief.

This event gave capitalism the chance to reveal its true self. Instead of embarking on a program of international disarmament and arms control, the elimination of
landmines and the abolition of all nuclear weapons, the United States embarked on the largest military build-up in history. Tens of billions of dollars were spent to open
hundreds of US military bases around the world and to literally pollute the major oceans of the world with warships.

Instead of cooperating with philanthropists and humanitarian groups in the build-up of a peaceful world community, the United States assumed determinedly the role of
becoming literally the policeman of the world. Instead of offering nations across every continent with humanitarian assistance to help eliminate hunger and provide natives
with adequate home facilities, the United States offered governments across every continent with all kinds of weapons and all military equipment as to enable them to
solve all problems with neighboring countries through struggles and wars.

After the collapse of communism, the United States had the unique opportunity to become an asset to the entire world. Yet, it deliberately blew up this opportunity and set
on irreversible course of struggles and wars. As a result, tens of thousands, amounting to millions, of innocent people were slaughtered mercilessly. The world, instead of
becoming safer, emerged to become more dangerous. Thousands of those who managed to survive whose properties were destroyed and relatives were killed have now
lost the will to live.

Some non-governmental organizations have asked children, ages 9 through 11 in both Gaza and Iraq, what it was they wished to do when they grew up. To their full
surprise, more than 80% said unanimously: “Killing Americans!” When each one was asked as to “why” this was their ambition, the answer was quick: “Because Americans
killed my father, they killed my mother, they killed or maimed my brother, along with several relatives; they destroyed our homes and all of our belongings; in essence we lost our will to live.”

Planting Seeds for Future Terrorism

What will happen when in a few years from now, these thousands of children become late teens or in their early twenties? They will surely find ways that would endanger
the lives of Americans and even proceed to destroy their property wherever it may be. Of course, when such events will take place because they were instigated in the first
place by the Americans years earlier, the US government officials will then label them as Al-Qaeda or Taliban, even though they might never had connection with any of
these two groups.

American foreign policies have been viewed by many around the world to be very belligerent. Such policies are based on the slogan: “Do it our own way or else face the
consequences!” Such policies are also seen as an expression of machismo revealed in a determination to haunt people with fear, which often leads to paranoia. Once paranoia
takes over, the elements of self-control and of solving conflicts through healthy dialogues tend to disappear very fast. More soldiers mean more killing of innocent people
that is bound to bring more negative and destructive reactions toward Americans.

The US full reliance on the military to get what it wants by hook or by crook has already put this great nation of so many good projects and good people on the road to
financial collapse. US government officials as a whole tend to call the countless trillions of dollars spent on weapons and the military as “defense” money. To this end, there
is always money with no end in sight, even to the detriment of American’s lives. And these same US government officials refer to any money for the health care of
Americans as “deficit” money.

In other words, US government officials as a whole do not even dream to do anything that is substantial for Americans, if that were to interfere with the financial interests of
big corporations. The saintly Pope John Paul II, who may become canonized in our lifetime, was right when he condemned capitalism as a great evil because, as he said, “it
advances its causes through the exploitation of people.” Ironically, these are Americans for whom their government claims to be fighting wars all over the world “to safeguard their
democracy and freedom!”

In recent decades, more people in the United States and around the world are beginning to believe that this nation does not have itself the democracy it advocates other
nations to have. Also, Americans do not have the freedom that their government claims it wants to bring to other nations. Democracy is derived from two Greek words,
demos (people) + kratia (government). In the United States we only have a façade of democracy. In theory, people elect their government officials supposedly to represent them.

View of Democracy and Freedom

However, for anyone to be elected one must reach the people in their homes through the press, radio and television. To use such media one must pay millions of
dollars. This means that to have a chance to be elected one must be either very rich or have some rich sources to finance the campaign. Here is where the big corporations
step in. Once the people elect their representatives through a well prepared propaganda, commonly known as “advertisements,” then such elected officials proceed to
thank the corporations that financed their campaign by doing anything in their power to boost their corporate products.

All of this modus operandi reveals that to have genuine democracy in a capitalistic nation constitutes a contradiction. As long as the US subscribes to capitalism, it can never
have true democracy. Since democracy and freedom seem to be tied together, let us examine the concept of freedom of movement, since this is viewed as vital for people
anywhere. When top US government officials advocate to other nations to give freedom to their people, they will have first to see what kind of freedom they do give to
Americans in the first place.

Although many people of several countries enjoy the freedom to travel anywhere in the world, even at their own risk, Americans are forbidden by their US government to
travel freely in a number of countries. That includes Cuba their peaceful neighbor. The US news-media hardly ever bring any good and constructive news about Cuba,
which has been viewed as “enemy” for almost half century! In fact, the United States has put an embargo against Cuba for well over four decades. Cuba committed only
one “crime!”

When the Revolution freed Cuba from the tyrannical Fulgencio Batista, the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, made it clear that “Cuba belongs to the Cubans and not to US
big corporations.” When such corporations realized that he meant what he said, then they asked US government officials who were elected by corporate money to “punish”
Cuba and the embargo, which is still in operation, was imposed. It’s an example of how US government elected officials serve more as puppets of big corporations than as
representatives of the people.

A few years ago, Cuba found a cure to some forms of cancer. While people from overseas went to Cuba to be cured of their maladies, the American news media did not
bring any news about this event. This was in line with their US corporate policies that news about Cuba must only be negative and destructive. Only God knows how many
Americans died that would have still be alive if they paid a visit to Cuba to this end. If Americans do not have freedom of movement to go wherever they want, how can the
US government give other nations such a freedom? Nemo dat quod non habet – No one can give anything that one does not have.

Self-Proclaimed Christian Nation

The United States is considered to be mostly a Christian nation. US government officials who feel proud of their traditional Christian heritage speak proudly of the
country’s traditional belief in God. In fact, the American motto on money and on quite a few monuments reads: “In God We Trust.” Almost all of these US government
officials attend church religious services on week-ends. The majority of them view the Master Teacher of Nazareth, Jesus Christ, as their Redeemer and Lord. All of this is
perfectly fine and all of us should feel edified.

However, we are faced with something ironic here. A good number of these self-proclaimed Christians in the US government do not seem to hesitate to censure the
teachings of their proclaimed Master Teacher when they feel disagreeable. Whereas the mindset of Jesus was deeply trenched in the culture of peace, the mindset of most of
our US government officials is deeply ingrained in the culture of war. We all recall the words of the Master Teacher to the Pharisees:

“The God you preach is not the God I know. You preach a God that advocates the eye for an eye and the tooth for a tooth; the God I know is one who when stricken on the cheek he would not
only refrain from retaliating but He would rather be stricken on the other cheek as well.” And when His disciple Peter tried to defend Him by taking out the sword, Jesus was quick
to tell him: “Put the sword away for he who kills by the sword will die by the sword.” The mindset of this Master Teacher was truly ingrained in the culture of peace.

This mainly Christian nation, whose mindset is deeply trenched in the culture of war, has defied the instructions of the Master Teacher, through its weapons, struggles and
wars. Its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan need to be replaced with humanitarian agencies. The US can still provide world leadership to bring world peace. This would need
first of all a shift from the mindset of the culture of war to the mindset of the culture of peace. US military bases could become humanitarian quarters. Besides, US war ships
floating over the oceans need to be changed into floating hospitals to help save the lives of many.

If what has been stated sounds clear and obvious, how come nothing is being done to change the role of the US military from one of destruction to one of
construction? It is more noble and humane to preserve human life from every aspect than to destroy it brutally! The traditional US governmental philosophy of the culture
of war needs to be replaced with the virtual unanimous people’s urge toward the eventual implementation the culture of peace.

Questioned United States Leadership

Is there any hope for the United States to emerge as an instrument of harmony and peace instead of struggles and wars? The answer is yes if all those who are
concerned with the creation of a harmonious and peaceful world were to become involved. We cannot leave our constructive actions for tomorrow for as Frank Sinatra said
in one of his songs: “Let’s forget about tomorrow for tomorrow never comes.” Here are steps to help replace the culture of war with that of peace.

Periodical demonstrations against war policies are needed to demonstrate to our politicians our outrage and condemnation of their actions.

Legal actions against those politicians who became millionaires through weapons and wars should be taken and have all of their money confiscated.

Constant pressure should be put on government officials to close 50% of the hundreds of US military bases overseas. This would allow the American people to have all the
money they need for their health care and education.

Clergymen and physicians, who are responsible for the people’s spiritual and physical needs, should condemn openly the “abuse of power” involved when the US military
destroys cities and kills thousands of innocent people.

Big Corporations must be made fully aware of their moral obligation to change their destructive products into constructive ones; instead of making tanks for soldiers they
could make tractors for farmers.

Courage and determination should be revealed by those working in the manufacture of weapons to quit immediately their job and to seek for a kind of work that is
constructive and beneficial to our earthly community.

Nations everywhere should stop cooperating with the United States when it comes to the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of struggles and wars. They
should say loud and clear: Satis est satis - Enough is enough!

A nation cannot be the seat of capitalism and the seat of democracy and freedom at the same time. As stated earlier, this constitutes a contradiction. In capitalism the power
lies with big corporations where government officials are merely puppets of such elements, which financed their election. The real hope of the United States lies with the
American people. Their courage and perseverance to move forward is bound to bring about constructive results in due time.

If we were to study carefully the evolution of events that took place over the past 6,000 years of recorded history, we will discover that most of the world's problems stemmed out from politics of one kind or another. The New Webster Dictionary of the English Language describes "politics" as "the science of government; that part of ethics which relates to the regulation for the preservation of its safety, peace, and prosperity."

Meaning of Politics

Also, politics is derived from the Greek word "polis" meaning city, which consists of citizens that make up the state or the nation. Those who become involved in the government of a nation are normally viewed as politicians. Needless to say, politicians are human beings that may be good or bad, beneficial or detrimental, and generous or egoistic. The people of a nation always tend to benefit when their politicians are highly concerned with their human needs.

At the same time, people in general always tend to suffer in many ways when their politicians carry agendas that are beneficial to a selected few but detrimental to many others. These kinds of politicians are viewed as abusive and the greatest problem people are faced with in this regard lies in how to get rid of them fast and smooth, peacefully and effectively. Since politicians differ from each other enormously it is somewhat difficult and confusing to have them classified by political or religious affiliation or other devised categories.

The Romans had a proverb, aliud est theoria aliud est practica - one thing is theory and other thing is practice. On the whole, people all over the world seem to share at least one thing in common about politicians. This was pointed out by well-known writer George Orwell who said: "Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind." This statement cannot be taken lightly because it has been verified to be true century after century to this very same day.

Let us examine carefully George Orwell's words. Suppose we come to know that the food we are about to share with many of our friends is poisonous, what would we do? Shall we proceed to consume it knowing that all of us afterwards will be sick, if not dead? Or shall we have it discarded and seek for a remedy to this problem? If we were to tell the people that this food is very good and tasty and they believe us, they will surely proceed to eat it only to face the tragic consequences that will follow.

Deceitful Politics in Operation

Contrary to the admonition of the United Nations, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, and many outstanding world figures, the United States proceeded to invade Iraq.
The political language designed by the US government consisted of lies that were made to sound truthful. Not only that, but as George Orwell pointed out, the US government and its European allies made the murder of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi people viewed as respectable. This needless massacre was referred to by some US military officials as "collateral damage!"

Is it possible that in the world of politics we manage to reach a point as to find it necessary to reduce the sacred lives of many to merely a piece of furniture?! Moreover, to turn an insult into an injury, the US later insisted that the Iraqis were better off now, following the American invasion, than they were before under Saddam Hussein. Quite a few humanitarian and non-governmental organizations visited Iraq to see for themselves what was going on there. They asked little children between the ages of nine and twelve the following question: "What would like to do when you grow up?

We were told that some 80% of the Iraqi children said without hesitation: "Killing Americans!" Those that raised the question in the first place were very much surprised with this reply. So they proceeded to ask: "Why do you want to do that?" Each of these children gave more or less the same answer: "Because Americans killed my father, they killed my mother and they killed or maimed my brothers, sisters and friends."
Others added saying: "Americans destroyed our homes and schools and all of our belongings and now we are all homeless." When the Iraqi adults were asked: "Don't you feel better that the US troops removed Saddam Hussein from office?" They all said unanimously: "We were much better before the invasion of Americans because then we still had our houses and schools, our spouses were alive and well and all of us enjoyed seeing our children playing and growing up. Now a number of them are gone and others are maimed and ruined for life."

Ironically, the United States views itself as a nation of democracy that is "ruled by the people who elect their representatives to serve them as senators and congressmen." Well, the vast majority of the American people proved to be against the US invasion of Iraq. Moreover, after such an invasion the American people, as a whole, continued to say loud and clear that the US government should pull out all US troops from Iraq without further delay. We had even US presidential candidates, one of whom was Dennis Kucinich, who vowed to pull out all American troops out of Iraq without further delay, if elected.

Orwell's Saying at Work

Unfortunately, like George Orwell well pointed out, the US government succeeded to make the tremendous amount of civilian killings in Iraq look respectable, "a necessity to safeguard the freedom, democracy and security of the United States" as some leading politicians said over and over again in the US news-media. By the way, in the last US presidential elections Barack Obama was elected as the next US President primarily because he promised to end the war in Iraq and bring all US troops back home, even though as of now his promise has not yet been fulfilled.

Also, the American people elected Barack Obama as their US President because he promised that he would resort to solve political problems through healthy dialogues and strong diplomacy and not through struggles and wars. This peaceful approach in the sphere of world politics that he promised enabled him to win the Nobel Peace Prize as well. Of course, this new US President has still time to prove his sincere promises in replacing struggles and wars with harmony and peace everywhere. However, when he escalated the war in Afghanistan many Americans felt highly disappointed.

Besides, due to the fact that the United States is deeply immersed in a culture of war mentality, the unjust struggle in the Middle East is still on. The way to bring politics under control is for the people in the world to see to it that those that represent them in the government give top priority on people's health care and education rather than on continued struggles and wars which lead to nowhere except to the eventual bankruptcy of the national economy. The time has arrived when the people should bring politics under their full control.

Anything that politicians say which is not conducive to the welfare of all people without exception should be viewed as dangerous and should never get our support. Anything that politicians say which is beneficial to welfare of people from every walk of life and procession should receive our wholehearted support. To this end, we must keep good politicians and get rid of the bad ones.

There is not one single group in the world that could claim to be perfect, an ideal source of inspiration. In other words, it is not wise for us to make it a habit to elect politicians because of their affiliation with a specific political party or with a religion of one kind or another. It would reveal a great lack of wisdom on our part if we were to view blindly things the way politicians would want us to see them in order to control us.

Political Meaning of "Pro-Life"

Let us illustrate this by some practical example. In the United States people are notably influenced by the name the political party carries: Republican versus Democrat, or the politician's religious affiliation. In this latter one, Americans feel often trapped in a political dilemma, especially when they are faced by self-proclaimed "pro-life" politicians versus self-proclaimed "pro-choice" politicians. These divisions or classifications are nothing but meaningless and deceitful frames people choose to put in their mind.

It will help us understand better where we stand in politics if we were to illustrate what has just been stated with some evidences that bring into proper focus the contradictions found in politics. Republicans claim to be "pro-life." This certainly pleases many clergymen especially when Republicans stress that "the sacredness of life starts from the moment of conception." Like George Orwell well stated, this political statement is "designated to make lies sound truthful." In fact, we need here to raise one serious question.

If the sacredness of life starts from the first moment of conception then does this sacredness of life end with the moment of birth? This is a very relevant question since Republicans always tend to solve virtually all political problems at the global level with all sorts of struggles and wars. This is revealed in their putting more money in the manufacture and sales of weapons, in the building of hundreds of US military bases around the world and in their instigation of more struggles and wars where millions of innocent people are killed, including pregnant women!

We all know that actions speak louder than words. Since struggles and wars could only be waged by people, is it possible that Republicans and those who claim to be "pro-life" may have ulterior motives? Are they "pro-life" as to make sure more humans are born to be used later as instruments to massacre millions of innocent people? Republicans, with other politicians that support US belligerent foreign policies, succeed to make "murder appear to be respectable," as George Orwell remarked. Many US politicians state that "wars cannot be avoided when the freedom, democracy and security of the USA is involved!"

If that is the case, then we need to define well the meaning of freedom democracy and security, otherwise we will continue to misuse such words to the detriment of the American nation and, as a matter of fact, of every other single nation in the world. The New Webster Dictionary of the English Language defines these three stated terms as follows.

Freedom, Democracy and Security

Freedom is described as "the state of being free; exemption from slavery, confinement, or constraint; liberty; independence; openness; outspokenness." Each time the United States invades other countries, and interferes with their internal affairs does it make sense to say that this was to preserve American freedom?! What about if Russia and China were to invade the USA under the guise of preserving Russian and Chinese freedom?

Democracy is described as "that form of government in which the supreme power rests with the people, ruling themselves either directly or through representatives. It's a government, as Abraham Lincoln put it that is "of the people, by the people, and for the people." The United States has no right whatsoever to impose its form of government on other nations by military force, under the guise of "preserving" its so called democracy.

Security is described as "the state of being secure; freedom from apprehension; freedom from danger or risk; something that secures against pecuniary loss." How does the manufacture and sales of weapons to anyone that gives the right price, the eventual US military invasion of a nation along with the forming of so called military alliances bring security to the American nation that takes the initiative to attack other nations?

We are all familiar with the saying that "what goes around comes around," and with the Master Teacher's firm warning to "put the sword away for he who kills by the sword will die by the sword." In view of what has been stated, it is quite obvious that many politicians in quite a number of countries have eventually emerged to be very dangerous to their respective nation's people. People everywhere need to become fully aware of this tangible reality and do something about it, the sooner the better.

Let us all face our greatest challenge courageously keeping in mind that "when there is a will there is a way." In the social sphere, the people exist to control politics and not the other way round. Politicians who resort to dialogues and diplomacy rather than struggles and wars, should receive our full support since they prove to be very beneficial to all people without exception.

Over the centuries the topic on basic human rights often served as the center of attention for scholars, humanitarian groups and government officials. In spite of this, violations against basic human rights have taken place periodically to the point of making millions of people suffer immensely and unnecessarily on a global scale. Since this could be traced to manifold sources, we may simply here analyze carefully and concentrate properly on just four aspects as follows: respect, law, taxation, and environment.

View of Fundamental Aspects

1. Respect: Human beings are entitled from their very first moment of conception to great respect. This is shown especially by demonstrating interest in the welfare of their life. Since they constitute the backbone of the nation, they are entitled by natural law to receive free education and free health care from the cradle to the grave. When people develop their full potential they are better equipped to make greater and more outstanding contributions to society. As a result, everyone benefits greatly.

Also, when people are healthy they are in a position to work harder and to be more productive as a result to the extent that everyone will be a winner and no one a loser. When a government gives its people free education and free health care from the cradle to the grave, this would serve as a guarantee that such a nation would be making the best investment that could be ever made beyond which there is no greater one. By demonstrating respect to these two basic vital needs of people a nation is assured of its eventual strength.

2. Law: One of the most unfortunate experience people go through is to realize that higher laws, which were meant to protect them from their very beginning of human existence, are ignored by their government. In order to have a clear concept of this reality, we need, in the first place, to enlist the four hierarchical laws that always existed since the beginning of times. These are viewed as hierarchical because in the event there is a clash then the higher law should be observed and the lower one disregarded.

These four laws are enlisted as follows: Divine Positive Law, Natural Law, Ecclesiastical Law and Civic Law. (a) The Divine Positive Law consists basically of the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses. They are found in every religion under different names. Among these we find that we should not kill, not say lies, show respect to our parents and so on. (b) The Natural Law consists of the way nature is meant to function. It is found, for example, in the law of gravity, where everything heavier than air goes down and anything lighter goes up, and the law of plantation where the roots always grow below the surface of the earth.

Examination of Hierarchical Laws

These two mentioned laws are viewed to be God-made laws because they are perennial and they can never be modified or changed. Hence, all other laws that are enacted in both the ecclesiastic and civic sphere should be subservient to both the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law. Anything enacted that would violate any of these two higher laws should be disregarded and not observed at all. (c) The Ecclesiastical Law consists of laws enacted by religious authorities or groups the purpose of which is to guide their adherents to lead a better and more fulfilling life. Such laws should be observed provided they show respect to the first two laws mentioned. Besides, religious authorities should become very vocal in condemning any civic law that does not respect higher laws.

(d) The Civic Law refers to any law enacted by governments for their respective nations. Such laws need also to be observed provided they do not contradict the first three kinds of laws, especially the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law. Although the civic law is the least important of all these four hierarchical laws, it has been quite often the source of so many conflicts, struggles and wars. Those that have the courage to defy the civic law, when it goes against the three mentioned higher laws, often ended up as martyrs, as victims of their tyrannical government. The enactment of a civic law that goes against the first three laws constitutes an abuse of power, which is criminal.

3. Taxation: The notion of taxation is not a new one. It goes back to centuries and even millennia. There is nothing wrong with taxation as long as it is fair and as long as the money collected from the general public is used merely for positive and constructive purposes. This is proved to be so only when such tax money is not used for purposes that would violate the Divine Positive Law and the Natural Law in particular. Unfortunately, over the centuries, the many abuses that took place in this area caused suffering and death to millions of people. For example, if tax money is used to promote struggles and wars, which would involve the killing of innocent people that constitutes a direct violation of the Divine Positive Law, God-made law.

Although taxation may be viewed as legitimate, such tax money should be used only for positive and constructive purposes. This means the governments involved are expected to improve the nation's educational system by providing better teachers and by improving the school facilities. It also means that such authorities must use tax money to make sure that the nation's people are provided with the best health care system possible. Besides, such tax money may also be used to provide adequate home facilities to the poor and the homeless and to encourage the creation of humanitarian organizations that are mostly composed of volunteers.

Role of Taxation and Environment

It would certainly be ideal for any government if it were to find ways where taxes become minimal, if not eliminated at all. Fortunately, we do have very few nations that found ways of generating the needed national revenue from the natural resources of the nation itself. This way their people are not really bothered with taxes. In this area of taxation there is one thing for sure. Those nations that tend to achieve what they want, nationally or internationally, through military force are among the most prominent in taxing their own people even at the cost of making many suffer as a result. In nations where the indiscriminate usage of the military becomes a way of life, taxation has become very much abused to the very detriment of the nation's people.

4. Environment: All people around the world have a sacrosanct right to live a long and healthy life. This is done not only by having adequate nourishment but also by having their environment protected against air and water pollution. In this regard, every government has the sacrosanct obligation to see to it that its respective nation is properly protected from air and water pollution. Nowadays, most governments have become merely ornaments. They seem to exist for any purpose but not to look properly after the welfare of their own people. In many countries the accumulation of money and wealth by the few has become more important that the health and life of the nation's people.

This explains why some of the leading nations of the world have emerged to become among the greatest polluters on earth. They are mostly guided by the elite wealthy and rich to the extent that the government becomes merely a puppet in their hands for all practical purposes. For example, the weapons industry and the military industrial complex have emerged to become among the greatest polluters on earth. Many of those who worked for such entities have incurred cancer of some kind and died some time afterwards. Yet, the governments involved in such nations do nothing about it for fear that the war-oriented industry may suffer financially!

Some 4,500 years ago Greek philosopher Socrates said that we can solve every problem we encounter if we were to take the first step, namely, to bring the problem into the open for everyone to see. He said that "unless the people become aware of a problem they would do nothing to bring it under control." This means that we are fully obligated to bring into the open all kinds of violations against sacred human rights and to hold those that cause such violations as fully responsible and accountable. We should do this especially when those responsible happen to be in authority. We should let them know that we are fully aware of the existent problem that is violating human rights and that immediate steps should be taken to remedy the situation.

Importance of Our Involvement

When confronted with violations of sacred human rights, we should not remain silent. On the contrary, we should have the courage to become highly vocal and to take all legitimate steps to remedy the situation. We should establish a series of healthy and constructive dialogues until all problems that deal with the violations of sacred human rights are solved. These would include the right for self-respect; the right to have civic laws that observe, in turn, higher laws; the right for adequate or small taxation that would not make the financial life of many miserable; and the right for an environment that is totally free from air and water pollution by all means.

It is true that our earthly community has been experiencing so many struggles, wars and suffering. However, it is also true that we do still have hope for a better and brighter future. All we need is for all of us to become involved in making sure that the basic human rights outlined in this presentation would be safeguarded. Above all, we should continue to enlighten government and industrial officials of their obligation to protect by all means the basic human rights that were discussed. We should encourage all those who are involved with the weapons and war industries to change their products from destructive ones to constructive ones.
This means encouraging the replacement of tanks with tractors, military machinery with medical and educational equipment, barracks with home facilities and so on. To this end, we need to continue to do our best to create a global environment where all people begin to feel they are, after all, members of one big global family. Their actions, individually and collectively, should always be positive and constructive because this way everyone will end up to be a winner and no one a loser. As a result, hatred will be replaced with love, fear with hope, suspicion with trust, struggles and conflicts with harmony and peace. Let us keep in mind that when there is a will there is always a way.

If we were to examine the products of some of the business ventures in the world we would discover that some are meant to lead and preserve peace while others are structured to create and promote war. Those that are involved in the manufacture of peace products should be viewed as valuable and beneficial and they deserve our help and cooperation to the best we can. On the other hand, those that are involved in production of war material should be viewed as the eventual mortal enemies of our earthly community and should be considered as dangerous.

Dream of Lasting Peace

If there is one element that the vast majority of people in every country really want to see by all means would be the creation of a world that is characterized by peace on a permanent basis. They would want to see a world where harmony among all people becomes the daily experience of their children and grandchildren, where the very concept of war becomes remote to the point of oblivion. If such were to be the case then we need to take immediate steps toward this end, the sooner the better.

In the first place, we need to continue to support and promote all products that are conducive to the universal welfare of all people without exception. At the same time, we should take drastic steps to stop the further creation of lethal products that are a detriment to human life and to our environment. This would be the best test we could possibly take to discover with crystal clarity as to whether we are strong or weak as well as beneficial or detrimental to the good cause of humanity everywhere. To this end, we need to raise seriously some questions.

Let us bring to our mind right now one person or a group of persons that we do feel we love dearly and infinitely. Let us assume, say, that this may be a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a grandson, a granddaughter, a friend and the list could go on and on. Now let us suppose that we are approached and offered quite a few millions of dollars on condition that we proceed to kill one or more of these dearly beloved of ours. Would we dare to accept the money in exchange for the destruction of our beloved ones?

Let us approach this scenario from a different angle. Suppose we observe a group of individuals manufacturing lethal weapons that sooner or later would be used to destroy our environment and our very own lives as a matter of fact. How would we react? Would we try to sit calmly in our backyard watching the stars while trying to forget all about what we have observed? Or, would we try to become fully alerted and try to take immediate steps to stop and reverse this tragic trend in an effort to save ourselves by all means before it is too late?

Friends and Enemies at Work

Based on our past experience, what are the criteria we use to judge as to whether those we come across are genuine friends or potential enemies? Do we tend to trust people based on the titles they carry and positions they occupy in society? Or do we tend to trust them or distrust them in relation to how their actions are eventually affecting our lives for the better or the worse? If we were to glance at the history of the last 6,000 years we would soon discover that the various governments of the world tended to serve for their people either as a blessing or as a curse.

Those governments that, in their national expenditures, put top priority on the vital needs of their own people, such as good health care, proper education, and adequate residential facilities, have always proved to be God's blessing at work. On the other hand, those governments that, in their national expenditures, put top priority on the manufacture and sales of weapons, on the promotion of struggles and wars, which often resulted in the annihilation of human lives and the destruction of the infrastructure of cities, have always proved to be a curse in operation.

The negative and disastrous elements of such governments are too many to enumerate. Among others, they are heartless, that is, void of all mercy and compassion. They are cruel and selfish that for money and wealth they would not miss any opportunity even if that were to involve the sacrifice of the lives of their beloved ones and risk of their very own lives. In addition, they are methodical and compulsive liars who deceitfully try to justify their evil and vicious actions by such words and phrases as "national defense and security" as well as "safeguard of democracy and freedom," and the list goes on and on.

Ascetical writers tell us that when good and evil clash, evil tends to take the upper hand initially. However, at a time least expected evil will eventually take a sharp turn downwards to the point of total collapse before we even know it. This should be a great source of encouragement for all those who are determined to do their best to leave a vibrant legacy of peace to our children and all of our posterity. For quite a long time now we have witnessed a never-ending struggle between God and Satan, between God's good children and Satan's evil followers.

Those governments that put periodically money on the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of struggles and wars, should be viewed as evil and vicious, as Satan's evil followers at work. We should do our best to prevent them peacefully from the pursuance of this demonic trend. We say "peacefully" because this is an indispensable pre-requisition to have God on our side and to be assured of eventual victory in the long range. The only condition God set for us to eventually secure the victory we seek is merely this: "Do your best and God will do the rest."

Importance of Faith

Can we really do our best trusting eventually that God, at a time He chooses, will step in to finish the job we seek properly, effectively, with determination and success? What proper and effective actions we may take as to convince God that we are really doing our utmost and the very best to bring about a complete stop to the manufacture and sales of weapons and to the further promotion of struggles and wars? Needless to say, we are all welcome to come out with a list of as many proposals we may possibly make. This would be a good effort in our genuine try to create some good and practical proposals toward bringing eventually a permanent peace.

Since the best and most effective way to solve any problem we face in life is to go to its source and block it in a way as to prevent it from ever appearing again, we should start here by all means. Let us concentrate fully and thoroughly on the greatest two devastating enemies of our earthly community. We have already mentioned them earlier. They are the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of struggles and wars. Let us enlist some of the effective steps we could take to obliterate these two mortal enemies from the surface of our planet.

Since the manufacture and sales of weapons as well as the promotion of struggles and wars are viewed as a lucrative business, we need simply to device strategies to bring this disastrous business completely to an end, no matter how much time it would take us. Once more, let us keep in mind that God is fully on our side since we have volunteered to be on the frontline to defend openly and courageously his two great commandments: 1) You should not kill, and 2) you should not destroy the property of others.

Also, God has warned us very seriously not to do to others what we do not want others to do to us. We do not want others to destroy our lives, which means, that we should never take the initiative to destroy the lives of others. We do not want others to destroy our cities, which means, that we should never take the initiative to destroy the cities of others. With this in mind we should approach the various heads of government and all those responsible in a nation not only to refrain from the manufacture and sales of weapons but also to refuse purchasing them.

Besides, we should find an effective way how to make every nation that has foreign military bases on their soil to have such machineries of death closed down. In addition, we should also discourage every nation that has no foreign military bases on their soil never to accept having such bases by all means. We need to convince all nations that are approached by advanced militaristic nations to purchase weapons and military equipment to refuse such offers and to request of having, instead, useful health items, needed educational material and good residential facilities.

Using Money Constructively

Such constructive approaches may be viewed as peace in business ventures where everyone will end up a winner and no one a loser. In his farewell speech, President Dwight Eisenhower told the US Congress emphatically: "Remember that every dollar you spend on weapons and wars is a theft from the hungry and the poor." This inspired statement from a former US President applies to every nation today that spends millions and billions of dollars to purchase weapons and all possible machineries of war.

It was recently reported that Saudi Arabia has purchased $60 billion worth of weapons and military equipment from the United States. This may be viewed as a very poor deal and a very big mistake. If Saudi Arabia were to use such military equipment it will bring about the annihilation of human lives and the destruction of numerous residential facilities. If such military material is never used, then such money could be termed as pure waste. In proceeding with this venture Saudi Arabia put itself fully into lose-lose situation. Nations that take the initiative to pose threats can never be viewed by the world at large as peaceful.

Instead of using such money for destructive purposes, Saudi Arabia might have used such money for constructive purposes. This nation which proclaims belief in a good and merciful God who loves all of His children dearly, could have used such money wisely by providing the suffering children of God in Africa with good hospitals equipped with all available medical needs, with good schools to provide children with adequate education, and the structure of residential facilities as to provide the homeless with homes of their own.

This way Saudi Arabia would have pleased immensely that good and merciful God it proclaims so strongly to believe in. Also, this very same God, the beloved Father and creator of everything that exists, would have certainly blessed Saudi Arabia 100 fold. Saudi Arabia would have performed an action that would have put it in win-win situation. We are all familiar with the saying that actions speak louder than words. When we take the initiative to provide vital help to God's most dear and beloved suffering children, God has many ways at his disposal to reward us big.

It is amazing how the United States, a nation whose motto says: In God we trust to save America would proceed to become so heavily involved in business transactions that are negative and destructive instead of becoming involved in business transactions that are positive and constructive. It is incomprehensive that the governments of nations that profess belief in a good and merciful God, who is assumed to love all of His children dearly, would proceed to defy some of God's commandments with no apparent remorse whatsoever. What is sad in these war policies lies in the fact that millions of innocent people will suffer immensely and unnecessarily as a result.

Characteristics of God's Children

Apart from warning us not to lie to people when we deal with them, God made it very clear that we should not kill and that we should not destroy the property of others. There are absolutely no exceptions whatsoever. The negative and destructive material the United States sold to Saudi Arabia has only one purpose when used, namely to kill God's people and to destroy their properties. We have learned from a recorded history of 6,000 years that it is never wise on our part to take the initiative to defy God's commandments in any way whatsoever.

If we were to examine some of the main characteristics that exist between the children of God and the victims of Satan, we would soon observe the following. The children of God tend to be imbued with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which may be enlisted as follows: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God. Of course, the victims of Satan are generally characterized by a conspicuous lack of these seven gifts, all of which are termed to be spiritual. Wisdom is revealed in the courage to follow God's prescribed laws fearlessly.

Understanding consists in our ability to distinguish between what is beneficial and what is detrimental to us. Counsel deals with the capability of giving the right and proper advice as to enable people choose what God wishes. Fortitude is revealed in our determination to do what needs to be done in line with God's way of thinking. Knowledge enables us to enrich our minds as to see things into better and truer perspective. Piety means compassion especially toward all those who are in dire need of both spiritual and physical help.

Fear of God does not consist in our fear that God is ready to punish us when we do things wrong, but in the fear that we offend such a good and merciful Father who loves us dearly and is always ready to help us even when we manage to offend him. In view of what has been stated, when it comes to business ventures we need to become engaged only in those ventures that are peaceful or are meant to lead to peace. If we do just that, then before we may even know it or realize it, world peace will finally become a tangible reality to enjoy and cherish for centuries to come.

If we were to give a rapid glance at the last 6,000 years of recorded history, we would soon discover that most problems in the world stem from the government. Needless to say, the source of such problems may vary from one country to another. The most common one could be easily traced to questionable behavior in business transactions. This is due to power-abuse in the deliberate exploitation of people. We need to keep in mind here that the end does not necessarily justify the means. In other words, we cannot succeed in life through fraud and manipulation.

Integrity of Character

We are all familiar with such traditional sayings as: (a) honesty is the best policy, (b) the art of living is the art of giving, and (c) you reap what you plant. In all of our business dealings, integrity of character becomes an indispensable element in human relations. In this regard, egoism needs to be replaced by altruism, hatred by love, arrogance by modesty, pride by humility and anger by patience. Above all, trust must become a vital element, which is indispensable for the achievement of our common goals and objectives.

Such evidenced virtues were the source of power and strength of some of the major religious leaders in the world from Confucius down to Jesus of Nazareth all the way to Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II and the list goes on and on. The presence of these deeply spiritual individuals made a difference. Because of them we have today a better world in spite of the manifold problems it still faces. Doing to others what we would like others to do to us, remains the way to go by all means and with no exceptions whatsoever.

Ethics deals with morality, that is, with human behavior. It is something that can be taught in schools at all levels of education through the development of virtues that would enable one`s character and personality to be pleasant, positive and constructive. When we feel at ease with those around us we are more likely to perform better. In this regard, we become visibly more successful to the satisfaction of everyone involved and concerned. Let us keep in mind that we live in the kind of world that we create by our actions. In other words, we reap what we plant, nothing less and nothing more.

A former president of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor once made the following remark: "What are our universities doing? Some of the most sophisticated crimes in the nation are committed by former students of ours who graduated with flying colors, summa cum laude!" This remark was based on the fact that while our institutions of learning provide our students with knowledge, they fail to provide them with the responsibility to use such acquired knowledge in a positive and constructive manner. This means the present academic approach needs a lot of improvement.

Setting Good Example

Instructors in the schools of business have to keep in mind that their first duty is to set a good example for their students. They cannot exhort students to be honest in their business transactions while they themselves practice dishonesty through manipulation and fraud. A careful study of quite a few big corporations vindicates precisely what is being stated over here. For example, the weapons industry has emerged to become a very lucrative business. This is revealed in the fact that such an industry is ready to sell its lethal product to anyone that gives the right price.

It makes no difference if those who want to purchase such disastrous product happen to be friends or enemies. It really does not matter for the weapons industry if those to whom they sell weapons would decide to use them afterwards for defensive or offensive purposes. The primary purpose of such an industry is not to create a safer world, as it proclaims, but to make plenty of money and to make it fast, even if the world were to be literally annihilated as a result. This demonstrates clearly that those in the management of such an industry do not have any sense of responsibility due perhaps to lack of ethical knowledge in their business education.

Let us keep in mind that people are more important than money. In fact, if we were to have a world with people but with no money, everything would still move forward. People may still grow their food and build adequate houses where they can live. They may still get a good education as to develop better knowledge in the way they could make their life more beneficial and constructive. However, if we were to have all the money in the world with no people, all such money may be viewed merely as toilet paper that is totally worthless for all practical purposes.

When during the decade of the eighties Pope John Paul II was asked in Mexico as to whether he thought world peace was possible, he stated the following: "Yes, world peace is possible but only after two of the greatest evils of the 20th century are gone." After a brief pause he added saying: "These two great evils are communism and capitalism because they both advance their cause through the exploitation of people." Three years later communism collapsed and the world took a sigh of relief, thinking that now money would be spent for only constructive purposes.

Instead of having capitalism taking the lead to solve all vital human problems as to bring about permanent world peace, it embarked upon the largest military build-up in history. The weapons industry was adamantly determined not to go out of business. So, numerous weapons were furnished in countries with inner conflicts that led to civil wars, like we had with the case of Uganda, to mention one instant. This demonstrates clearly that the very concept of ethics in the business education of those involved in the transaction of such lethal products was conspicuously absent. The harm we are inflicting in the world at large is beginning to get out of control.

Our Moral Obligations

We are all familiar with the saying: "Better late than never." We can still take the initiative to take over where the schools left off. This means we need to bring into the open the concept of business ethics as to have it implemented by all means available at our disposal. Anything we do in life, which is geared toward violating the divine positive law and the natural law, should be strongly opposed through all the peaceful means we have at our disposal. Such violations are revealed in the destruction of human lives and the annihilation of the infrastructure of cities.

Let us keep in mind the saying: "When there is a will there is a way." When we deal with business education we are not merely dealing with that kind of education that students normally are expected to get in schools. We are dealing with all those sources that have the potential to covey principles of good ethics in business transactions of any kind. Hence, if we feel we are well versed in ethics then we should feel the obligation to provide guidelines when needed. We also should make it a point to bring into the open all moral abuses that are being taken for granted.

Hence, ethics in business education is to be taken in a broad sense. Just because the school from which we graduated did not offer a good program in business ethics, it does not mean that we are free to do anything that crosses our mind as long as that would lead to the eventual achievement of our goals and objectives. It's better to make, say, $100,000 a year with honesty than $10 million a year with dishonesty. The first case will provide us with a good conscience and feeling of happiness while the second case will instill in us a bad conscience and a feeling of remorse and eventual unhappiness.

Happiness is something that comes from the inside of our being and it generally stems from the good and beneficial actions we perform. In essence, it is not linked with the material things of this world. This explains why we have so many people that have hardly the basic necessities of life and they are happy, while we have many people who are rich but feel rather desperate to the point, in a number of instances, of committing suicide. It explains why we had great people in history who were rich and gave everything they had to the poor to lead a very simplistic life.

The history of the world may be described as the history of human actions. When such actions are beneficial everyone ends up a winner. But when such actions are disastrous everyone ends up a loser. People are entitled to help even if they were to refuse it. At least we should do our best to give them the inspiration they need as to perform constructive actions that are beneficial not only to themselves but also to people elsewhere as well. The concept of ethics is not restricted to one person or to one group but to all people without exception.

Making Constructive Judgments

To this end, we should develop a strategy to convince those who work for the manufacture of lethal products to quit their jobs and to work, instead, for companies that produce beneficial products. Our job is merely to enlighten them to see things into true perspective before they may possibly have any regrets. When we speak of lethal products we are talking of a variety of items that would include water and air pollution that over the years have inflicted millions of people with cancer of some sort and led many of them to their grave at a faster pace than anticipated.

At this stage of history there seems to be a dire need to reform the teaching-/learning process as to make it more meaningful and beneficial. Rather than teaching a subject area as an end in itself, instructors should teach their respective subject areas as a means to a further end. This would be revealed in the students' ability to use anything learned in school for positive and constructive purposes. One of the best contributions we can possibly make to our earthly community is to provide every human being with the ability to develop one's potential to the maximum.

At the same time, we need to help all human beings to use the maximum of their potential to contribute toward the creation of a better and safer world. We need to bring into the open the viciousness of the Machiavellian dictum: "The end justifies the means." By the way, this dictum has become the law of the mafia who try to get what they want even if they were to have a number of innocent people killed. Since everything we do in life may be viewed as business, including teaching, the concept of good ethics needs to be taught in every subject area.

Let us illustrate this by a couple of examples. Suppose we are assigned to teach history. It is not enough for the teacher to teach accurate historical facts. The teacher needs to go a step further and discuss with the students what could be done that we may avoid in the future the repetition of such a historical war or disaster. Hence, from the knowledge of history the students may feel the obligation to become directly involved in creating a better and safer world. The development of a conscience in the students as to feel the moral obligation to become involved in society constitutes an integral part of business ethics in the teaching of history.

Suppose we are now assigned to teach geography. It is not enough for the teacher to show a good map of the world with its oceans, continents and countries within each of such continents. The teacher needs to go a step further to demonstrate to the students how the boundaries of nations change from time to time. For example, before World War II, west Poland was a part of Germany and people there spoke German. Then it became a part of Poland and, while the people there still spoke German, they became officially Polish who now travel with a Polish passport.

Priority in Human Relations

The teacher here may raise to the students the following question: "Does it make sense for the world to refer to these people as Polish when they are essentially Germans?" Then the teacher may proceed to show how it would make more sense to speak of people in terms of their character and personality and in terms of what they can contribute to society than simply in terms of being Germans, French, Chinese, Polish or Russian. After all, the concept of ethics is linked to human actions and not to people's nationality.

If we were to explore the nature of government of many countries in the world, we are likely to find out corruption a major factor. And if we were to study the major source of such corruption, it almost boils down to money, which is said to "buy" power. This is best understood when one studies the United States political system. In theory we have a nation of democracy but in practice we have a nation of plutocracy. For anyone to be elected, one must have plenty of money to reach millions of people through proper advertisements.

Once the individuals are elected mostly with corporate money, then their primary job is to boost the product of the corporations that financed their campaign, even though such product may prove to be a detriment to the people that voted to elect such officials. Here the American people witness corruption at work that comes from a conspicuous absence of ethics in the way business is conducted. The past is gone and we have no longer control over it. The present is in a state of transition. Our hope is to get good hold of the future relative to the knowledge and implementation of ethics in business education across every academic sector of each school.

In view of what has been stated, it is obvious that we cannot take lightly the role ethics plays in business education. As a matter of fact, it is a vital element in the various branches of academics as far as our ability to create a better and more stable community is concerned. If the members of every government were to conduct their job on ethically sound principles, the concept of struggles and wars, would become a thing of the past. Prosperity would flourish and people everywhere would be given the opportunity to make constructive contributions to society on a habitual basis.

Over the past 6,000 years of recorded history, violence seems to have been the distinguished characteristic of our earthly community. Violence of one kind or another always promotes animosity, hatred, destruction of the environment and total disregard for the sacredness of human rights. Every kind of violence stems from abuse of individual or collective power. It tends mostly to derive from those in authority who are held accountable for all the struggles and conflicts as well as disasters and wars.

Source and Nature

The source of violence varies from one place to another. However, whatever the sources may be there is always a conspicuous element of anger which often leads to lack of self control. We should keep in mind that violence breeds violence and more violence breeds more violence. This means that one of the greatest mistakes we can possibly make is to deal with violence by retaliation. This explains why the Master Teacher of Nazareth taught us peace by "turning the other cheek when slapped" instead of resorting to violence.

One thing we need to keep in mind and to learn from history is this. When we use violence for any purposes, everyone ends up being a loser including us. To turn an insult into injury, the governments of our respective nations have institutionalized violence and made it legal through the creation and use of the military for this end. We need here to distinguish between the theoretical and practical aspect of the institution of the military. In theory, the military exists for the purpose of "national defense and security."

In practice, the military has been abused by various governments to achieve what they want through brutality for which no one is held accountable. This abuse of power is revealed each time the military invades a country. In fact, the military always served to suppress the people and to destroy their cities while exploiting their nation's natural recourses. It never served to establish beneficial dialogues and to bring about a permanent peace. This is verified by the fact that the military massacres thousands of innocent people with no remorse.

If we were to analyze carefully the initial source that led to the complete collapse of a world power in history, we always discover that its war policies destroyed eventually its very own economy. At this stage of time, the United States is viewed as the sole world power, which explains, in part, why this nation tends to try to solve all of the world's problems through constant and continuous military intervention, that is, through violence. It explains why so many people in this nation are poor and helpless and several millions do not have any financial resources to pay for their medical problems.

Exposing Military Danger

When it comes to the military, there are no higher laws! The Divine Positive Law, consisting of the Ten Commandments, the Natural Law, based on the orderly process of nature, and the Ecclesiastical Law, which often serves as a guideline for people to observe properly these sacred laws become all meaningless. There has never been in history an element that has been abused and so deceitful as the institution of the military. In our communities, when we abuse our neighbor in any way, we become fully responsible for our actions.

We are generally taken to court and receive an adequate punishment. At the same time, we are viewed as "dangerous" to those living in our same community, at times for the rest of our lives. Not only it is all right for the military to destroy the infrastructure of cities and kill millions of innocent people, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, but those that carry out such orders are officially viewed as heroes or patriots! This mind-set is now so deep that it would take a miracle direct from heaven to have it changed.

However, in the civil communities there is at least one crime that could be performed at leisure without any fear of prosecution and punishment. This crime consists in the ruthless murder of children at their early stages of life. When we have governments that condone these crimes and try even to finance them to make sure such a heinous trend would continue the notion of violence has become an intrinsic part of human life. All of this reveals the characteristics of a culture of war in which we were all born and raised.

Violence could be brought up to a complete halt if we were to understand clearly its sources and go after them to provide adequate remedies. If we are dying of a malignant tumor, the best way to deal with it is to go to its source. We need to know how it came to exist in the first place. After that we will be in a good position to take drastic steps to remedy the situation in a way that such a malignancy will never pop up again. Violence will escalate when we use violence, like we have observed in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The purpose of violence is very clear. It is used to hurt others brutally and ruthlessly. It makes no difference as to whether those hurt were guilty or innocent of an assumed crime. In addition to what has been stated, violence is also used as an "effective" means to silence people. Needless to say, when it comes to the solution of problems we encounter, we can always solve them through non-violence if we were to understand vital and basic human needs. This would eventually enable us to provide remedies that are effective and peaceful and that are inexpensive and lasting.

Obama No Exception

The key of success in human relations problems lies in the ability of all sides involved to listen not only to our own feelings but also to what others have to say. President Barack Obama won the noble peace prize because he convinced Americans and nations around the world that he intended to use healthy dialogues and a strong diplomacy to solve problems instead of struggles and wars. This gave the whole world a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, shortly after he received the noble peace prize, he proceeded to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

In other words, Obama continues with the traditional trend of the last 6,000 years of civilization of trying hopelessly to solve international problems through the use of deadly weapons, struggles and wars. He continues to use the military, the institution that is in charge of carrying out ruthless brutalities without being accountable to no one. World peace would be achieved faster if we were to discuss together our feelings, observations and needs. This will enable us, in good faith, to develop policies that are on a mutually beneficial basis.

There are quite a few things that all people from every walk of life and profession as well as from every religious creed and nationality have in common. One of this lies in their deep desire not to become a victim of violence. For many of us it may be fine if others were to become victims of violence but we surely do not want, by all means, to become ourselves victims of violence. The Master Teacher said it beautifully when He exclaimed: "Do to others what you want others to do to you."

In English we have the expression: "What goes around comes around." And when it comes around it usually comes in a way we never expect. In fact, we are often taken by surprise because those that are meant to hurt us tend to use different elements than those we expect. We all need to get together to discuss seriously how we can make the military cease to be an agency of violence and, instead, become an agency of peace characterized by love, concern and respect for the vital human interests of all people without exception.

One of the major problems people are caught up in lies with the nation's politicians who seem to act with no principles in general. They often abound in mysterious contradictions. As the Romans used to say: Aliud est theoria, aliud est practica - one thing is theory, another thing is practice. In this respect the Italians have a proverb which runs as follows: Tra il dire e il fare c'e' in mezzo il mare - between saying and doing there is in between an ocean.

Characteristics of Politicians

At heart all politicians seem to have plenty of things in common. They all seem to be ready to do anything to be elected and to remain in the office they may hold. In this regard, in both their words and actions they tend to say and do anything that is rather expedient, even if, in the long range, it were to be, most assuredly, a detriment to the people that put them in office. If they like something, they tend to bring out all the positive and constructive aspects of it and they tend to exaggerate enormously.

On the other hand, if they happen to dislike something, they tend to bring out all the negative and destructive aspects imaginable. There seems to be no sense of balance or equilibrium. Their real concern is to make people, to the best they can, to see things the way they want them to see them by all means. To this end, they often resort to manipulation and distortion of facts and events. The best way to evaluate politicians is to explore how they stand on vital issues.

Needless to say, the American traditional saying - money talks - says it all.
Most American politicians had their election financed by big corporations whose job afterwards was to control such political figures with iron fist. This explains why so many politicians tend to defend the products of big corporations, no matter how deadly and detrimental to human life they may prove to be. Among the most abused elements are those related to the indefinite manufacture of weapons and the perpetual waging of wars.

In this study we are going to concentrate on one major issue, which has caught the news media attention on virtually a daily basis. It deals with the problem of the so called "illegal" immigration. Over the years, tens of thousands of Mexicans crossed the border and entered the United States without any legal documents. Today, the number of Mexicans that live in the USA without proper documentation amounts to quite a few millions. These Mexicans have been a financial asset to those that employed them.

Sacrifices of Illegal Immigrants

They virtually all worked for less than a minimum wage, thus saving tens of millions of dollars to both the US industries that employed them and also to those in the American private sector. Their intention of coming to the United States was not the exploitation of the US economy but to serve, even at the cost of great sacrifice, the entire American nation as needed with as little money as possible. The US President Barack Obama did not hesitate to recognize the contributions that the involved Mexicans made to this great nation.

In fact, this American President has been contemplating very seriously to give these so called illegal immigrants an amnesty, especially in recognition for all their positive and constructive work, which saved the US billions of dollars over the years, as explained earlier. Of course, these so called illegal immigrants had tens of thousands of children born and raised in the US which is the only country they ever knew, not to mention the great number of grandchildren. In the moral sphere, it is not appropriate to punish hard workers retroactively.

When Americans enter illegally another country, whose purpose is to destroy the infrastructure of cities, along with the killing and maiming of tens of thousands of innocent people, most US politicians tend to view such an event as a necessity! Not only so, but Americans who were responsible for their negative and destructive actions, are viewed by the US government as patriots and heroes! There must be something intrinsically wrong in the American political philosophy of our times.

It is better for people to enter a country illegally when all they do is positive and constructive than to enter a country illegally and all they do is negative and destructive. As ascetical writers have told us many times, in our actions we should reveal love and concern for all people. The Master Teacher of Nazareth warned us saying: "Do to others as you would like others to do to you." The illegal immigrants in the US proved to be very beneficial to the entire nation. We cannot close our eyes to this sacrosanct fact. We are morally obligated to thank them for their hard work and reward them with general amnesty.

We all know the story of the Pharisees. They accused the Master Teacher of Nazareth of violating the Sabbath because He performed humanitarian work such as healing the sick. This Master Teacher called the Pharisees hypocrites and compared them to tombs… clean from the outside but stinking from the inside. Most US politicians want to punish our illegal immigrants, in spite of the good contributions they made. Ironically, such politicians support the sales of weapons to anyone that pays the right price, along with the promotion of wars!

Source of Economic Collapse

We learn from a recorded history of 6,000 years that every big power collapsed because it disintegrated its economy by fighting needless wars. Those in the USA that are destroying the American economy are not the illegal immigrants but those in the government who are constantly putting billions of dollars on weapons and wars. It has been calculated that if the USA were to close 50% of its 746 military bases it has around the world, there would be enough money to solve virtually all the economic problems this great nation is facing.

The American military has become the albatross of the United States. Not only it is alienating many nations with its presence everywhere but it is instigating retaliations each time the US military destroys the infrastructure of cities, kills thousands of innocent people, forces many to become refugees, and increases the number of orphans. Pope Pius XII was perfectly right when he said to both Great Britain and Germany on the eve of World War II that "in a war everyone is a loser and no one a winner."

Germany lost the war and its economy collapsed. On the other hand, Great Britain won the war and its economy equally collapsed. The fact that the US is resorting increasingly to tactics of threats and fear shows that it has virtually reached the point of paranoia. Higher laws, such as the divine positive law and the natural law, are disregarded for all practical purposes. The teachings of the Master Teacher of Nazareth have become fully meaningless and ignored fully by all means.

One of the most conspicuous was when Jesus said to Peter: "Put the sword away for he who kills by the sword will die by the sword." And to show that he was not bluffing, He added saying: "Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Jesus has condemned violence of any kind with persistence. Needless to say, He condemned retaliation when He stated clearly "to turn the other cheek when slapped on one cheek" instead of hitting back. If there is one element in the world that constantly defies God's laws is the way the military is handed by respective governments.

We are referring here to God's commandments: "You should not kill" for only God is the author of life, and also, "You should not destroy the property of others," who all happen to be God's children. Another one of God's laws says clearly: "You should not tell lies." Unfortunately, we learn from history that many leading government officials lie to their people systematically. They try to hide their ulterior motives in anything they do negatively and destructively with such words as "national defense and security."

Role of Political Expediency

Such phrases and other similar ones are used in an effort to keep completely shut or sealed the mouths of both the civilian population and the news media reporters. When some humanitarian organizations visited young children in both Iraq and Gaza strip they asked them the question: "What would you like to do when you grow up?" To their surprise and without hesitation some 80% of these little children said unanimously: "Killing Americans!" When these children later try to achieve their goal, the US will view them as terrorists!

When asked "why" they wanted to kill Americans, they all gave, one by one, more or less the same answer: "Because Americans killed my father and now I have not father; they killed my mother and now I have no mother; they killed my relatives and friends and now I feel desperate and lonely." Within the supernatural context, is this not really ironic? We are referring here to the American political philosophy that views those who contribute to our earthly community beneficial and constructive work as bad, vicious and that need to be punished simply because they go by the name of "illegal immigrants."

At the same time, this same American political philosophy refers to those who destroy the infrastructure of cities and kill thousands of innocent people, as our "heroes who risked their lives to safeguard the democracy and freedom of the American nation!" This is fully incomprehensive when the United States views itself as a predominantly Christian nation. How can a nation that views Jesus as its Lord and Master, as the Son of God dares to trash into the garbage anything He says that is not viewed as politically expedient?

When Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa, the whole world was expecting him to take some revenge against the Whites that put him in jail for 27 years. Instead, Mandela won the hearts of the world when he said: "Let bygones be bygones. We are all South Africans. We need to work together and move the country forward." We need to learn from Mandela and say: "Let bygones be bygones. Our so called illegal immigrants made US corporations and families richer as explained earlier. It would be fair to give them amnesty."

If we were to take a world-wide tour and visit the religious practices of natives across every continent, we would discover a great variety of beliefs and ways of spiritual behavior as a result. Some of them are centered on the belief of one God, the source of anything that exists, while others tend to concentrate more on a variety of sources that work together for the common good. However, in spite of all this they all have one strong thing in common that is known everywhere as the Golden Rule.

Meaning and Purpose

The Golden Rule concentrates on vital human relations that are mutually beneficial in spite of numerous diversities that may exist as a matter of fact. It deals with love and respect for our neighbor, that is, for every other human being in our community, the nation and eventually the whole world. In Christianity, for example, we find Jesus saying in the New Testament: "Do to others what you would like others to do to you." This has become a distinctive characteristic of Christianity, which is found in virtually every country around the world.

In Islam we discover Prophet Muhammad saying in the Hadith: "Wish for others what you wish for yourself." A true believer is viewed to be one who is genuinely concerned with the welfare of all other people without exception. In Judaism we learn from Hillel in the Talmud: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor." This is considered as the essence of the whole Torah, all the rest is viewed merely as commentary. In Buddhism we hear Buddha stating in Udana-Varga: Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."

In Hinduism we notice in Mahabharata the statement: "Do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you." This is viewed as the sum of duty from which no one can escape. In Confucianism we read in the Analects what Confucius has stressed to all of his followers: "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. " To this end this religious leader advocated good conduct revealed in loving-kindness.

In Taoism, we hear Lao Tzu telling us in T'ai Shang Kam Ying P'ien: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." This means we should identify our neighbor as an integral part of ourselves. In Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib expressed his basic message to those embracing this religion saying: "I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all." This approach has proved to be a real source of peace.

Common Denominator

In the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah underlines the importance of good human relations stating: "Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself." In Jainism, in Sutrakritanga the basic teaching of this religion was expressed by Mahavira as follows: "One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated." In Zoroastrianism we find in Shayast-na-Shayast the following important statement: "Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself."

In Unitarianism, we notice the following basic principle of Unitarians: "We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." In Native Spirituality, as it is known, Chief Dan George affirms the belief of his religious group stating: "We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive." This is based on the belief that for all people to live strong and healthy as well as happy we must protect our environment from air and water pollution. The quality of air and water we have does make a big difference.

Needless to say, the list of various religions we have in the world may go on and on. Besides, each of the religions mentioned above has a lot of denominational groups or sects within it. In Christianity, for example, there is a big variety of such denominational groups, such as Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists and so on. Regardless of the various denominations or sects we find in each religion, the Golden Rule is always there, even though some adherents may tend to disregard it.

The question that needs to be raised here is this: If every religion advocates love and respect for our neighbor, how come we have had and we still have so many struggles and wars, so much hatred and pain? This may be traced to greed, envy, power-abuse, ignorance, pride, mistrust, disrespect, hypocrisy, sadistic tendencies, and anything that is negative and destructive. Since the early days of civilization, the world has always been saturated with beneficial and vicious people who served as a benefit or a curse to our earthly community.

For many centuries now, the dominant philosophy in human relations has been based radically on the culture of war. Needless to say, the governments of our respective nations must assume full responsibility for all the massacre and pain they caused to tens of millions of good and innocent people. They always resorted to secure the most sophisticated and devastating weapons to this end. Whether they admit it or not, their hearts were full of venom and hatred toward their fellow brethren whom God loved dearly as His own children. Let us keep in mind the proverb: You can catch more flies with honey.

Retaliation as Self-Defeating Purpose

We are all familiar with traditional sayings such as: What goes around comes around….. In a war everyone is a loser, no one a winner. In fact, at this stage of history, the traditional concept of conventional war, like we experienced in World War II, is no longer applicable. Today, the deadly struggles we are experiencing are not between one nation fighting against another, where each side knows where the other side is. Those nations that continue to amass more devastating weapons, including nuclear bombs, are faced with a great handicap.

Their enemies are no longer nations, where you can locate them geographically. They consist of small groups, which use small sling shots like David of the Old Testament that are bound to hit and destroy Goliath, in our case the United States and its military allies. Since such enemies cannot be identified by nationality, they are just referred as terrorists who use entirely different tactics than those which have been used in conventional wars over the past several centuries. They simply try to destroy the economy of their targeted enemy.

How do they do it? They try to perform terrorist activities as to alarm the government of that nation whose economy they plan to destroy, which is usually a big power in the traditional sense. At this stage of history, the real target of these few individuals is the United States. They will do anything to alarm the United States as to force it drain billions and now trillions of dollars on building more military bases, more warships spread in all oceans, and more devastating airplanes. They are not afraid of all this since they have no real identification.

Since the United States still believes that it can control the world once it has a strong military and highly devastating weapons, it seems there is no choice as to identify these so called terrorists with a nation and then go to wage a conventional traditional war there. In the process of doing so, millions of innocent and good people are killed or maimed for life and their property is utterly destroyed. This is viewed by the natives at large as cruelty and great animosity has grown against the United States and its war allies as a result.

In the meantime, the American people, which may be viewed as the backbone of the nation, begin to suffer because their government has no money left to provide them with a free good health care system, affordable housing facilities and productive education for all. The United States can solve the problem of terrorism, properly and effectively, through sound educational means and not through a so called strong military. This nation can bring peace on earth only through highly dedicated groups that are characterized by love and service for their neighbor and not by hatred and threats.

Secret of Political Success

The United States, and its military allies, must adapt to the realities that surround us. The choice is crystal clear: Just continue to adhere to traditional conventional wars, which are now becoming totally outdated and fully ineffective, or simply follow the instinct of every human being in every religion by doing to others what you would want others to do to you. If you threaten others, soon you will be threatened in ways totally unexpected. If you destroy the property of others, soon the lives of your good citizens will be put in danger.

In a commencement address he gave at the University of Kansas in 1966, former US military commander in Vietnam, General Westmoreland, said the graduating students: The Vietnamese come to shoot us with rifles we use in the USA for pigeons; at the same time, we have the most sophisticated and devastating weapons one can imagine and yet we cannot subdue them. Unless we have the support of the native population there is nothing much that we can do. And the Vietnamese as a whole view us as enemies.

This was also confirmed by US military commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, who, like General Westmoreland, said that without the support of the people in Afghanistan there is nothing much that the United States and its war allies can do. He pointed out flatly that the people in Afghanistan in general viewed the US troops as enemies. There is nothing of a surprise in this since many good and innocent civilians were killed by Americans and had their houses and all of their belongings destroyed.

The USA may become the salvation of the world if it were to take the initiative to change the nature of the military from one of destruction to one of construction, from a belligerent entity to a humanitarian institution. All the money used on the military would then be used only for constructive purposes with positive results. But the USA still speaks of anti-ballistic missiles and of sharing nuclear information with nations it views as allies. Of course, this keeps encouraging the little Davids that are bent to destroy the Goliaths of our time.

What is ironic lays in the fact that war alliances, headed by the United States, cannot understand anything, which is not in line with the culture of war mind-set. They still keep on thinking of wars fought between nations, which have specific boundaries found in our various continents. Besides, such war allied nations do not admit actions they take which are fully provocative, like the case of American and South Korean forces performing joint military exercises close to Japan and China.

Ultimate Choice in Perspective

In view of what has been stated, we may begin to realize and understand why so called terrorist activities keep on going with no end in sight. Many of us still cannot comprehend that the objective of these so called of terrorists is not to "defeat" the United States militarily but merely to "weaken" its economic potential by continuing to force this world power to spend money, not on the vital needs of the American people, but on the manufacture and sales of weapons, the maintenance of 746 foreign military bases, and the eventual implementation of the star wars concept.

As a result, the United States has incurred the largest economic debt in history, which is putting it on the road of economic collapse following the footsteps of the Soviet Union. Is there a way out? Is there a way that would outsmart the present terrorists and all prospective ones in the future? Is there a way that would bring about a permanent world peace where everyone will be a winner and no one a loser? The answer to such questions is a qualitative yes, which is easily done through the implementation of the Golden Rule.

As a matter of fact, the Golden Rule remains the only hope we have at our disposal for the eventual establishment of a permanent world peace. This brings to our mind the warning former US President Eisenhower gave to the United States Congress in his farewell speech. He said emphatically: "Remember that all people of all nations want peace, only their government wants war." In studies made on so called terrorists it was discovered that these are generally young men who lost their will to live along with the very concept of fear.

This was due to the fact that they lost several of their family members and friends, along with the destruction of their properties through a conventional war fought on their own land by foreign military forces. If the United States and its military allies continue to use military force to solve human problems, not only such problems would not eventually be solved, but they are planting the seeds for an eventual Armageddon, where everyone will be a loser and no one a winner. Respect for the Golden Rule remains the only hope for human survival.

The greatest problem of the American people is threefold in nature: (1) Congress, commonly known as the US government, which formulates and makes laws, (2) Whitehouse, the seat of the US President, who is empowered to set up guidelines and policies that are beneficial to the entire nation, and (3) Supreme Court, composed of nine members each one nominated by the US President but has to be approved by Congress in order to take office.

Branches of US Government

These three branches of the US government were set up by the Founding Fathers of the nation to serve as checks and balances. This means that the American people would be more likely to be protected from any kind of power-abuse. In spite of this, the American people are increasingly becoming more and more nervous. They feel that they have literally ceased to occupy top priority in the overall nation’s agenda. Since actions speak louder than words, this does not need much explanation to discover it.

As a result, the nation plunged into turmoil, which could be traced to a mixture of ignorance or stupidity, power-abuse and corruption as well as conspicuous lack of courage to do what needs to be done fearlessly. According to Socrates, who lived some 2,500 years ago, every problem we encounter could be solved if we were to take the first step. This consists of bringing the problem into the open for everyone to see. Once people become aware of an existing problem, they soon begin to see how this problem would affect them.

When this is discovered, then steps are quickly taken and the problem is eventually solved. This explains why many governments in history feared most their people who could eventually remove them from power. It also explains why many governments feel safe to immerse their people into ignorance by not letting them know what is going on. Let us now analyze carefully how each of the three branches of the US government has emerged to become the greatest problem of the American people.

Congress in Perspective

This body is composed of 100 senators, two from each of the 50 states, and 435 congressmen the number of which varies in each state depending on the number of their respective population. Since political elections in the USA evolved to become a popularity contest, a lot of money is needed for extensive self-advertisement through the major news media: radio, press and television. This is virtually the only way prospective senators and congressmen have to take, in an effort to be elected. Sooner or later, a substantial number of these elected officials begin to show by their actions irresponsibility and corruption.

Needless to say, the bulk of money comes from the rich and big industries. Of course, since both of these elements are involved in the business of making money, all financial assistance given to prospective political figures are always given with strings attached. This means that, in return, the elected senator and congressman must dedicate his/her life not primarily to help the American people in all of their necessities but to develop policies that would make the rich become richer and for corporations to sell their respective products.

We can understand why at this stage of history, the majority of American politicians in Congress do not want to impose any taxes on the millionaires and billionaires. On the contrary, they rather take all money they want from the health and educational needs of the American people. And they would rather continue to make the poor get poorer than develop a program of fairness and balance among all Americans, rich and poor alike. This reveals irresponsibility and disrespect for the American people by all means.

Once senators and congressmen start to become abusive and corrupt they would do anything to get what they want even by literally robbing mercilessly the American people from their hard-earned money. This could be illustrated by the so called “social security” money. All Americans who work have a portion of their paycheck that goes for their social security. This means after they retire, maybe 25, 30 or 35 years later, they will start receiving a monthly paycheck. The social security could be described as the money of people that helps people.

For the members of congress to manufacture more and more devastating weapons and to engage in more and more wars, the latest being Afghanistan and Iraq, they have to spend tens of billions of dollars. So, without the consent of the American people, the US senators and congressmen took the social security money, which was all earned by the people for their future, and put such money into the general fund, from which they began to finance weapons and wars with billions of dollars stolen from the people’s social security money.

In brief, the US Congress has now virtually bankrupted the social security money fund. And to turn an insult into injury, the 2012 Republican presidential candidates are advocating the elimination of the social security money fund! As already stated, this money never belonged to the American government. It always belonged to the American people. Hence, those who have tampered with social security money in the US government have committed a power-abuse crime for which they should be held fully accountable. They should all be prosecuted for treason and be adequately punished with long jail sentences.

Whitehouse in Operation

Anyone that runs to become US President normally reveals a will to alleviate all or some of the manifold problems the American people are facing. However, after the American people elect the one they think would be for them a great asset, they begin to experience frustration and disappointment as the time goes by. The position of the US President is somewhat different in nature from that of both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. The United States president enjoys executive power.

Every law passed by the US Congress will eventually become effective only after the US President signs it. In fact, the US President has the power of veto. This means if he chooses not to sign the enacted law by Congress it cannot be put into operation. Also, although the US Constitution makes it clear that only the US Congress can declare war, yet the US President may involve the USA into war by-passing Congress. This explains why the USA has so often been engaged in virtually every global conflict since World War II ended in 1945.

This also explains why the USA, which has always been described as the richest nation on earth, is today on the verge of bankruptcy. The recent US wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq have cost the USA already $4 trillion dollars, half of this amount was literally stolen from the hard-earned money of the American people – the social security money. If the US government has destroyed the necessities of life of the American people, how can we expect people of other countries to believe that the USA is there to save their necessities of life?

As St. Thomas Aquinas stated on more than one occasion, nemo dat quod non habet – you cannot give something you do not have. In the 2008 US Presidential race, Barack Obama has impressed Americans with his intelligence and clarity of mind. He made it clear that he would replace struggles and wars with other nations by healthy dialogues and strong diplomacy. He also promised to close the US torturous prison of Guantanamo Bay. Besides, he vouched to end the Iraqi war, which he opposed from the outset.

This good and well-intentioned US President found the hard way that anyone who occupies the Whitehouse has enormous pressure from big corporations whose job is to get what they want by all means. Not only the US Congress but also the US President has to submit, by all means, to the ruthless will of big corporations headed by the weapons industry and the military industrial complex. The executives of these two industries understand fully well that to survive in their business there must always be wars going on; there should always be turmoil not only in the USA but in every global area.

This explains why the military industrial complex and the promotion of wars are viewed, especially by most US politicians, as the Holy Cow, more sacred than God Himself! President Obama has been so much under pressure from Republicans, where their ultimate goal is to oust him from the Whitehouse, that he has compromised his principles beyond comprehension. The Republicans want to continue to protect the rich as to become even richer, while they are literally dumping the poor making them poorer.

Instead of having the US Democratic President drawing the line and be firm with Republicans on a no-matter-what basis, he continues to cave in even at the cost of breaking the promises he made to the American people during the time of election. All of this does not reveal what kind of President Barack Obama happens to be, but it reveals that the real power in the United States is vested neither in Congress not in the Whitehouse but, quite shamelessly and very disgracefully, in big corporations.

US Supreme Court in Reality

The establishment of the US Supreme Court was done with the best of good intentions. But even here, as the traditional saying goes, the way to hell is paved with good intentions. Although it is true that the US Supreme Court proved to be more of an asset in the entire history of its existence, it is still subject to make serious mistakes. Fairly recently, the US Supreme Court, which consists of nine individuals appointed for life, revealed its true color. To comprehend fully well the actions of the US Supreme Court we have to know, in the first place, how did such individuals got there.

When a vacancy occurs, either through death or retirement, then the US President appoints one to fill up this vacancy. However, this nominated individual will take office only if approved by the US Congress. Over the past several decades, the nomination of such individuals was quite predictable. If the US President is a democrat he tends to appoint one who espouses his own political party philosophy and beliefs.

This applies equally well if the US President happens to be a Republican. Fairly recently, the US Supreme Court by 5 to 4 votes, stated that US corporations should be viewed as persons! This brought a tremendous negative reaction that challenges the wisdom of having such members on the Supreme Court for life. These five members that voted for this measure were virtually all Republicans, while those that voted against were obviously democrats. As stated earlier, the Republicans are concerned mainly in making the rich become richer. Republicans do not want to tax the rich even, believe it or not, if they were multi-billionaires.

Until this stated measure was taken by the US Supreme Court, while individuals could donate money as much as they wanted to help elect the candidate of their choice, US corporations were quite limited as to the amount of money they could give in political campaigns. Of course, since the US Supreme Court has just declared that the US corporations should be viewed as “persons,” they are now free to spend unlimited millions of dollars on politicians of their respective choice. Needless to say, we are all aware of the traditional saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The US Supreme Court gave the green light to such corporations to start now giving any amount of money they want without limit. Hence, knowingly or unknowingly, the US Supreme Court took the initiative to literally “legalize” corruption, the mafia type. Former US President Jimmy Carter referred to this US Supreme Court decision as “stupid.” Others were wondering what kind of education these five US Supreme Court members received in their elementary and secondary schools where they learned that in English we have three types of pronouns. They are “he,” “she” and “it.”

“He” is masculine, “she” is feminine, and “it” is neuter. Hence, we use the pronoun “it” to refer to a hospital, school and corporation as well as to a table, chair and door. Maybe former US President Jimmy Carter was absolutely right in referring to this stated US Supreme Court decision as “stupid.” We are all familiar with the proverb: To err is human, to forgive divine but to persist in error is diabolical. In view of this, we have to realize that it is never wise in planet earth to have an individual to stay in power of any kind for life.

The time for the US Supreme Court members to have a limited term has definitely arrived. Besides, the American people must begin to become fully involved in seeing to it that those that represent them in the US Congress, the Whitehouse and the US Supreme Court do show in their actions that their primary concern is the welfare of all the American people. All US citizens have a sacrosanct right by natural law for adequate residential facilities, a good health care system and a free education from the cradle to the grave.

The members of the US Congress must make it clear that the time for the USA to solve social problems everywhere through wars has now become a thing of the past. Unless the United States works closely with the United Nations in developing seriously an international program of disarmament and arms control, the American people will continue to be seriously misguided by these three branches of the US overall government. Those who occupy a position of some kind in the US government need to keep the following in mind.

Backbone of the Nation

The American people are the backbone of the nation. We have a strong country not when we have a strong military but when we have healthy people that are properly educated and who enjoy living in adequate facilities. Besides, let us keep in mind that honesty is the best policy, which means we should realize that the weapons industry wants to keep in business through the never-ending of wars. For such an industry people are merely means to reach their money-making goals, regardless of how many innocent people are killed.

In view of this, the three branches of the US government should keep in mind the words of US President Dwight Eisenhower who warned the United States Congress saying: Every dollar you spend on weapons and wars is a theft from the hungry and the poor. We should add that the excessive money that is spent on weapons and wars constitutes an abuse of power in a number of ways especially when we consider that many in the US government became rich as a result. What amazes many is the hypocrisy of some US government officials.

The United States claims to be a predominantly Christian nation where God is revered in the open and where Jesus is viewed as the Master Teacher with great respect and reverence. Yet, anything that this Master Teacher of Nazareth taught and with which US government officials disagree, is simply dumped into the garbage literally. Ironically, this is observed systematically and with regularity among those who view themselves politically as conservatives! Let us bring a practical example to illustrate this vividly.

When the apostle Peter took off the sword to defend his Master, Jesus did not hesitate to tell him: “Put the sword away for he who kills by the sword will die by the sword.” And on another occasion Jesus warned his disciples saying: “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.” The USA, in resorting to weapons and wars to continue to solve global conflicts, has chosen the path to its own tribulations, with the American people ending up suffering as a result. The US three branches of government need to make the welfare of the American people a top priority that comes above anything else.

At this stage of history, the world is going through numerous serious problems, which could be fully brought under control only if we develop the habit of becoming involved. Problems should always be faced with courage, hope and perseverance. Needless to say, when we encounter a problem we may choose to solve it momentarily or permanently. If we choose the first one, then the problem keeps on coming back over and over again.

Focusing on the Problem’s Source

However, if we choose the second one, then that same problem will never surface again. This will simply involve getting to the source of it and block it there. If we were to make a study of the general tendency the governments of the world tend to adopt to solve our manifold problems, we would soon discover that they always tend to use the first option. This means, they make sure that the problem in consideration is brought under control momentarily.

Of course, once people see the problem solved, they all tend to take a sigh of relief. However, when the problem surfaces again, they all become frustrated and many may start to lose hope. Besides, many may become quite angry, an element that guarantees the loss of one’s happiness in life. As the Scholastics used to say, quidquid contingens est causam habet – whatever comes into being there must be a cause, that is, a valid reason. In fact, another scholastic logical saying goes like this: ex nihilo nihil fit – nothing comes out of nothing.

Each time we face problems in life we need to seek for solutions that are in the best interest of all people without exception. The great problem of most government officials in the world at large lies here. Instead of solving problems in the best interest of all people, they proceed to solve problems in the best interest of some to the exclusion of others. Over the centuries, this approach has created animosity and numerous conflicts needlessly.

A careful study of the history of the last 6,000 years of civilization demonstrates that the nation that was viewed as super-power at the time, it always served as a blessing or a curse. It served as a blessing when it took the initiative to provide positive and constructive solutions to encountered problems, where everyone tended to be a winner in some way and no one a loser. It served as a curse when it took the initiative to furnish negative and destructive means that was based on fear, annihilation and death.

US Addiction to War in Perspective

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the United States emerged as the sole world-power in the world. Instead of taking the initiative to develop an international program of disarmament and arms control, the United States embarked upon the largest military build-up in the entire history of humanity. Foreign US military bases were built around the world in 146 nations out of some 193 countries. Without further delay, the USA assumed the role of becoming the policeman of the world without the consent of the United Nations.

The United States is a capitalistic society, which is controlled with iron fist by big corporations that finance the election of virtually every major government official. Needless to say, those US government officials that were elected in the office they hold through the money of big corporations feel the sacrosanct obligation to promote their product regardless as to whether it is beneficial or detrimental. The weapons industry and the military industrial complex invest more money in time of elections than any other imaginable industry.

This means that for the US government to justify the manufacture of more and more weapons and the waging of more and more wars, it has to instill an atmosphere of fear in the American people. To this end, billions of dollars are spent weekly on the hundreds of US foreign military bases, which are equipped with highly expensive weapons, not to mention the numerous warships that are virtually found in every ocean. As a result, the United States ran out of money and has had to borrow billions of dollars amounting now to a few trillions.

And to turn an insult into injury, the US government is seeking to cut social security and health care, which are vital for the American people under the pretext of balancing the budget. Of course, those that are familiar with US politicians know very well that such is not the case. They want to deprive Americans from their necessities of life so that the US politicians at large would be able to spend such money on the manufacture of more weapons and the promotion of more wars. This American addiction to war is endangering the lives of all people around the world.

The time to reverse this trend is now before it will be too late. The first gigantic step that is needed to reverse this trend fast and smooth is for all people in every nation to be aware of such facts. It is our responsibility, individually and collectively, to reach as many people as possible to this end. The best available means of contact today is the internet. There was a time when the news media were used for such a purpose. But this is no longer the case since the major TV stations and newspapers in the USA are controlled by big war corporations.

War-Oriented News Media

If an American that runs for a political office, dares to advocate the closing down of needless US foreign military bases and to cut money from the bloated military budget, the US news media will not bring any news about him. They simply try to make people, to the best of their ability, not to know that he even exists. Out of the present eight Republican candidates running to become the next US president, with the exception of one, they are all saying that as President they would seek for more weapons and promote more wars as needed.

The only one that is advocating drastic cuts from the US bloated military budget and the closing of needless US foreign military bases, Representative Ron Paul, has been totally ignored by the US news media. When Ron Paul in the Iowa straw poll of republican presidential candidates came third, very close to be second, the US television ignored him and reported to the nation as the one who came third the one that came distant fourth lagging behind Ron Paul! Since the US news media cannot serve as an instrument to promote peace and harmony in the world, we need to explore ways to remedy this sad situation.

We learn from history that the most powerful element we have in a nation that is mostly feared by every government is the people who, once they draw the line, no one will stop them, not even the military, until they straighten things out. We have seen this in India, following World War II, and recently in Egypt to mention just a couple of examples. Why is it that the United States, in its determination to police the world, relies heavily on the military? The military is the only entity in the world that is subject to no national and international laws.

As far as the military is concerned there is no protocol. When the United States decided to control Iraq, it simply invaded that country. No passports, no identifications, no documents of any kind were needed. At least, when the Mexicans entered the United States illegally, their intention was to do menial work just to provide their families with a livelihood. They did not represent to the American people any threat except for giving needed services. On the other hand, the US military entered Iraq to demolish cities and destroy human lives.

No one tries to hold accountable the military for its disasters. Among other actions, we see destruction of nations, the merciless killing of thousands of innocent people, along with millions of refugees and thousands of children left orphans. And to comprehend the bizarre mind-set of our earthly society, the military individuals that commit these awful crimes are viewed as heroes! Are we living in a society that may be characterized as being mentally deranged?

Bringing the Military under Control

We all need to work together to turn things around. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate anything that is negative and destructive. Here are some vital steps that we need to take to this end, no matter how long it would take us. These steps are not enlisted in any specific order. Since the USA is fully involved in the business of weapons and wars, we need to concentrate on this country.

1. In political elections, the American people should remove from office any official that advocate more money for weapons and wars and have them replaced by those who advocate more money for health care and education.

2. Pressure should be put on senators and congressmen to close down quickly 50% of all US foreign military bases. This would save countless billions of dollars and to have such money used for the vital needs of the people.

3. Those that work for the weapons and military industries should quit their job while asking God to forgive them for having let themselves to be used as instruments to demolish nations and to massacre innocent people.

4. Those who live in countries where there are US military bases should insist with their respective government officials to have such deadly and provocative instruments closed down.

5. Government officials everywhere should refuse any offer made by the USA to provide them with weapons and military equipment; instead, they should state that they will accept only medical and educational means.

6. Pressure should be put on the US officials to change the role of the military from one that is destructive to one that is constructive; for example, using warships as floating hospitals to help the poorest nations on earth.

7. Americans should insist with their government officials to change drastically their philosophy of retaliation with that of reconciliation; we need to keep in mind that one catches more flies with honey.

8. Those that join the US military should be trained to do humanitarian work. They should be trained to help those in dire need to the best of their ability; no more training to destroy nations and massacre people.

9. Let us keep in mind that what makes a country great, productive and secure does not come from our reliance of a so called “strong military,” but it comes from the kind of education and health care we provide to the people.

10. We all know that charity begins at home; if the US government wants to help the people of other nations, it should start with helping its own people first by providing them with the vital necessities of life, not with weapons and wars.

11. If US government officials do believe that honesty is the best policy, they should device a plan to take all the money from every individual that became millionaire from the sales of weapons and the promotion of wars.

12. Such money then needs to be put in a general fund to be used only to provide people both in the United States and elsewhere around the world, with good health care, excellent education and adequate housing facilities.

Needless to say, we may go on and on since the topic under discussion, Our Involvement in Saving the World from Complete Destruction happens to be so broad! One traditional saying goes as follows: The journey of one thousand miles starts with the taking of the first step. Regardless of the position we occupy in life, we all have the potential to make substantial contributions to help make the world considerably better than the one we have inherited.

We should always make it a habit to support all those that are making good contributions in the best interest of all people without exception. At the same time, we should always demonstrate the courage to oppose all those who are performing actions that are detrimental even to a small segment of the population. This approach of ours should be adopted with determination regardless of the titles those performing such mentioned actions may carry.

In conclusion, we should try to acquire the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely: wisdom to see things into true perspective, understanding for purpose of better communication, counsel to help people move on the right track, fortitude that enables us to do what needs to be done, knowledge to help us make a better value judgment, compassion that enables us to treat everyone with love and mercy, and fear of God, which consists not in the fear that such a powerful entity has the power to destroy us, but in being very cautious not to offend the one that gives me everything that is positive and constructive day in and day out.

The traditional saying runs as follows: “If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, I can achieve it.” This means if my mind can conceive something that is beneficial to all people and my heart truly believes it, then constructive steps are bound to be taken and the projected dream is achieved. However, the other way round is equally true. The mind can conceive something that is not necessarily good, that may be detrimental and the heart may take it for granted. In this case, the actions pursued after are likely to be destructive.

Analysis of Human Actions

An analysis of actions taken by well known people in history does reveal this reality. The mind of great people such as Buddha, Confucius, and Christ all the way to Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa conceived a peaceful life through dedication to others and the renunciation of all the material things of this world. Their heart strongly believed in this and they eventually reaped tremendous benefits that are still being enjoyed by millions to this day.

On the other hand, the mind of great figures like Herod, Nero, Ivan the Terrible all the way to Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Idi Amin conceived a sadistic life by performing actions that were detrimental to millions. Their heart believed this as their eventual way of life, which led them to inflict mercilessly so much pain and suffering without any remorse. In view of this we may realize and understand that the mind and the heart are two great powerful elements, which we all have that could be used to literally save the world or destroy it.

Hence, it is very important for all of us to assume the responsibility to bring up a new generation that is capable of using the mind and the heart positively and constructively. This explains why the preamble of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starts with the words: “Since wars begin in the minds of men it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.”

This explains why Jesus insisted upon the straightening up a tree at its initial growth because, He said, once the tree branch develops it would not be possible to have it then straighten up. It also explains why Vladimir Lenin said, “Give me a child until it is eight and it will be Bolshevist forever.” All human actions initiated with the human mind that perceived anything that came across. This explains the importance for parents, teachers and anyone responsible for the education of children in particular to instill in the human mind appreciation for anything that is good, constructive and beneficial to all people.

Nature of Mind and Heart

Of these two involved elements, it is more difficult to deal directly with the mind, since it is generally grounded in suspicion. On the other hand, it would be easier to deal directly with the heart since this is generally viewed as the seat of love and compassion. During our life we are bound to experience conflicts between the mind and the heart. On the whole, the mind tends to be stubborn, which explains the so called individual’s mind-set. Once our mind is made up, it would be very difficult in many instances to have it changed.

Those, whose actions are dominated by the heart, tend to reveal more patience, humility and generosity in their dealing with others. Also, such virtues enable us to win the hearts of others often with relative ease. Ascetical writers tell us God always try to deal with us from the heart, which explains why He loves us so dearly even if we were to offend Him on a daily basis. He never loses patience with us but He keeps on hoping that our heart will finally take over that we may begin to practice all possible virtues in life.

While our mind tends to seek for retaliation against our neighbor when things go wrong, the heart tends to find anything good possible in our neighbors as to justify our continued love and care for them. Some ascetical writers tell us that if God did not have infinite love for us in his heart, we would have been exterminated from the surface of this planet long time ago! We find in the Holy Scriptures that when God could not find human beings that were faithful to His divine commandments, He sent a deluge where all people, with the exception of Noah and his family, were destroyed.

Even then, we learn from the Holy Scriptures that God regretted it after and promised He would never again inflict a similar punishment. If we were to give a brief glance through history, we would soon discover that the major governments of the world quite often tend to resort to war to get what they ultimately want even at the cost of destruction of the infrastructure of cities and the massacre of millions of people with virtual no remorse whatsoever.

We should keep in mind that in the waging of wars, everyone is a loser, no one a winner. We have witnessed this in World War II between Great Britain and Germany. Germany lost the war and its economy collapsed. People were poor everywhere and fully deprived from the necessities of life. Great Britain won the war and its economy equally collapsed. Its people were poor everywhere and its economy collapsed as well. Not only so, but, as a result of such a war, Great Britain saw its British Empire disintegrating and collapsing.

Source of Economic Collapse

Historians tell us that every world power ceased to exist because of its financial collapse. This is verified in the Persian, Greek and Roman Empires, all the way to the Ottoman Empire, the Spanish, French and the British. Their usage of the military to solve conflicts made them pay a big price. Even today, the United States, which has tried to control the world with its big military, has had to pay the same price. Its economy has virtually collapsed and its presence as a policeman of the world is soon coming eventually to an end.

Nowadays, the American people are beginning to see with crystal clarity what it means to have their government proceeding to perform actions as they stem from the mind. Among others, we may mention the systematic use of retaliation by using its military continuously to invade other nations and turning segments of them into a cemetery. With all of these sad experiences behind us, the time is now ripe to learn the most important lesson from history. It is wiser to rule from the heart, where everyone is a winner and no one a loser, than from the mind where everyone will be a loser and no one a winner, as stated earlier.

When the mind does not try to pursue actions that are conducive to the welfare of all people without exception we always have corruption going on of one kind or another. Such a corruption is characterized by greed, selfishness, deception, manipulation, fraud, indifference, and jealousy, in addition to a few other negative qualities. When the heart is saturated with virtues like generosity, honesty, devotion to the service of others, fortitude, and compassion, besides other positive qualities, the mind tends to follow the dictates of the heart.

Regardless of how much harm we did to others and the multitude of sins we might have committed, we may be fully forgiven and be thoroughly peaceful if we genuinely repent and ask both God and the entire world to forgive us. Conversion, like that of St. Paul who sought to kill Christians, is still within our reach. We need to do our best, with God’s help, to change the institution of the military from one of destruction to one of construction. This way the entire world could benefit and the peace of mind and heart will become an integral part of us.

When people face a problem there are generally two ways that may be adopted to hopefully reach a successful outcome. One of these ways will enable us to solve the problem we face on a permanent basis, that is, in a way that such a problem will not likely to ever surface again. The other way, which seems to have been quite dominant in history to this very day, will enable us to bring the problem under control in a number of ways but never on a permanent basis.

Two Distinct Approaches

In order to comprehend the nature of these two approaches to the solution of a problem we come across, it would be better to start with the illustration of an example. Let us imagine there is a nice hall in town, which people tend to use every now and then to hold some special event. Just a few days before the event, some committee members visit this hall to make sure everything is in order and under control. They soon discover that there has been some water on the floor and the furniture was not in place.

Needless to say, they proceed to dry the water away and put the furniture in order after which they return home satisfied looking anxiously forward for the projected event. The day before, they double-check the hall again and they find everything was in perfect order the way they had arranged it. However, they do discover some water scattered here and there on the floor. Of course, without hesitation they dried it up and everything was ready to go. In fact, the following day the event went smoothly and every participant was fully satisfied.

This was one way of solving the problem on the spare of the moment. Unfortunately, this has been the dominant approach adopted throughout the centuries when quite a number of people were faced with a problem. They use methods that would solve the problem fast and smooth visibly on the surface for the specified time that was needed. In fact, other groups in the past that needed to use this same hall did experience the same problem and they all tended to adopt the same approach for a solution.

The stated solution of the problem involved was based on an approach that would enable us to overcome the obstacle of water on the floor simply by wiping it out properly and effectively. If the problem we face anywhere in the world keeps on being repeated that would mean that we have to get to the source that causes such an involved problem to take place over and over again. Our first step is to think and meditate while raising to ourselves seriously the question: Where did such water come from in the first place? Was there any leak somewhere, like from a pipe or even the roof?

Getting to the Source

If, say, we find out the leak was in the roof, then we need to go on the top of the roof and cement the crack or small hole from where the water was coming.
Once we block the very source of the problem, we may feel virtually certain that such a problem of finding water on the floor of the involved hall will not likely ever to be repeated again. This would be the best and most effective way to solve a problem on a permanent basis, no matter how long it may take us. As we may fully realize, our world is literally saturated with serious problems.

There is surely one thing that all people from every walk of life and profession have strongly in common. No one would like to be confronted with problems of any kind whatsoever. Problems tend to create tension which may lead to high blood pressure. They tend to make us lose our inner joy and the full power of concentration when we are in the process of doing something that is especially positive and constructive. Besides, problems in general tend to be a nuisance, something that is generally undesirable.

Some 2,500 years ago, Greek philosopher Socrates underlined the fact that we are capable of solving any problem in life we come across provided, he added, we take seriously the first step. What is the first step? He said this would be to bring the problem into the open for everyone to see because, he continued, unless people are aware of the existence of a problem they will do nothing to bring it under control. History has shown that when people become aware of a serious problem, they would do anything to solve it fearlessly.

However, he stressed, once the people become aware of the existence of a problem, they will immediately begin to figure out how such problem may eventually affect them. And once they see that with clarity action is immediately taken and the problem is solved. Since then, Socrates has been fully vindicated century after century with no exceptions whatsoever. It is good that we talk about problems and try to discuss them the best we can. Yet, if we do not take positive and constructive actions nothing should be expected to happen.

If we were to visit every single major country in the world we would soon discover that people share similar problems, regardless of their background, nationality, cultural heritage, philosophical orientation and religious profession. And if we were to go to the very source of all major problems we would quickly see with crystal clarity that, on the whole, their respective government emerges to become the real source of all their headaches. This reason is very simple and fully clear. While the job of the government is to serve the people, in practice such a government makes it a point to boss the people around.

Violence Replacing Diplomacy

This governmental approach has been the source of enormous suffering that has resulted in so many people being poor and homeless as well as being deprived of adequate health care, if any at all. Besides, people are deprived ruthlessly from most of their sacrosanct human rights, which includes free education from the cradle to the grave. A government that provides such an element to its own people is enabling its nation to be fully developed as to become highly constructive in all national endeavors.

People of all nations do not want their government to resort to wars to solve human differences. Yet, as we have witnessed in history, the people are fully ignored and wars are waged that always end up with tragic consequences. This means people are forced to experience unnecessarily that in a war everyone is a loser and no one is a winner. Today we have reached a point in history where conventional wars do not make sense any longer. It has been predicted that World War II might have been the last conventional war in human history.

We all remember the so called 9/11 attack on New York and Washington, DC in 2001. The attackers did not represent any government. They consisted merely of 19 young men, mostly from Saudi Arabia, whose only major war equipment they carried consisted mostly of a few knives. These are described as terrorists who do not carry any badge or identification. On the other hand, the USA, which was trained in conventional wars, invaded Afghanistan and demolished the structure of cities while killing thousands of innocent people.

As though this was not enough, the USA invaded Iraq under false pretences where tens of thousands of innocent people were massacred, in addition to causing some 2 million refugees, while creating thousands of orphans. Nowadays the real enemy consists merely of a handsome of young individuals who want to take matters in hand since they feel their respective government is eventually corrupt and cannot do things right for the people. The best way to deal with future enemies of this type is through education.

Let us here bring to our mind the preamble of UNESCO, which states: Since wars being in the minds of men it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. Of course, we cannot expect to solve the manifold problems we face overnight. We have to educate a new generation that views the entire world as its "native-land," as Roman philosopher Seneca advocated in the first century. In fact he insisted saying: We will have a permanent world peace when we educate all of our children to look at the world and say: 'Omnis orbs terrarium patria mea est - the whole world is my native land.'

Importance of Global Community

Since Seneca made such a statement, 2,000 years have passed and there has never been a sizeable period of world peace. All of these 20 centuries that passed since then have been characterized by struggles and wars that inflicted suffering and death on several millions of innocent people. Confronted with this reality we should not be discouraged. We still have a chance, an opportunity to turn things around fast and smooth to the best we can. Recent events across the USA and other countries have been a gigantic step in the right direction.

We are referring here to the "occupy" peaceful protests where highly concerned citizens demonstrate in front of governmental buildings as well as in squares and parks. People want to show that the time for continued suppression of their sacrosanct human rights is over. If we were to make a careful study of the human rights in virtually every major country we would soon discover that there is hardly one nation in the world that literally respects human rights, not just on the surface by words but especially in practice as evidenced in actions.

Ironically, the United States is perhaps the most vocal country in the world that condemns violations of human rights as they occur from time to time. This is good and quite encouraging. The only tragedy we witness here lies in the fact that in its own territory, the USA does not practice what it preaches to others. For example, the USA was quick to condemn the brutal ways that were used recently in such countries as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria against young people who protested peacefully the tyranny they have experienced for years.

When recently American young men and women demonstrated in New York and other cities to protest the way the poor and the middle class were exploited by US corporations, hundreds of police dressed with helmets and full military equipment went to confront these peaceful demonstrators. They went like they were soldiers going after their enemies to destroy them if that were needed. In fact, they hand-cuffed and arrested several of them without mercy. They also sprayed pepper on them that some of them could hardly see.

When students in California gathered peacefully to protest the exorbitant fees increase of their university that would make it literally impossible to finish their studies, hundreds of police went to confront them dressed in helmets like they constituted a part of the military. These police, directed by local government officials, used violence against these innocent and harmless students that injured quite a number of them. These American police were no more or less brutal than the police in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria in addition to a few other countries that we witnessed in recent times.

Safeguard of Human Rights

While the US government condemns the brutalities of police against peaceful demonstrators in other countries, it condones and even instigates such police brutalities against peaceful demonstrators in its own territory. The sole purpose of the United States to have hundreds of military bases around the world is not to bring freedom and democracy to other nations. All these elements serve merely as instruments for the USA to police the whole world and to control it in any way possible.

As stated earlier, the job of the government is to serve the people and not to boss them around. To this end, the government must listen periodically to what the people have to say especially relative to their imminent vital needs. One of the best documents on human rights is the United Nations Charter on Human Rights. In spite of this, there is hardly any country that observes fully well this well-written and inspired charter. Let us quote a few examples for us to realize what has been stated with great clarity.

In accordance with this UN document, all human beings have a sacrosanct right to move around freely anywhere they wish in the world. Yet, a number of governments, the USA included, prevent their people from visiting a number of countries. For example, Americans are not allowed to visit Cuba, their peaceful neighbor and quite a few other countries. By way of contrast, Canadians are not prohibited by their government to visit any nation of their choice. Needless to say, when people travel they need to have some kind of identification.

The most common identification that has been used for centuries is known as the passport. In spite of this, for many countries, a valid passport is not enough. Unless they issue you with the so called "visa" you are not free to visit your chosen nation even if you have many friends there. If this were a matter of routine or a means of making an extra income, since one has to pay a fee to secure the visa, then perhaps we may close our eyes. But in a number of instances, the visa is mysteriously denied.

We are especially referring to the refusal of issuing a visa to teachers whose sole purpose to travel is to participate in an international academic conference or even a global peace convention. These are all governmental blatant violations of human rights. It would be appropriate if we were to make serious studies relative to what motivates governments to violate constantly and systematically the human rights of so many people in general. Among possible reasons we may enlist ignorance, indifference, paranoia, irresponsibility, prejudice, stubbornness, machismo, stupidity and abuse, in addition to others.

Eventual Control of World Problems

The tremendous violations of human rights we witness periodically in the world at large are too many to enumerate. However, it would be appropriate if we were to study the violations of human rights in every single country while trying to pin point with clarity their very source so that we may go after it and block it for good. Since power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, we cannot have the same people in government for the rest of their lives. We have to devise a plan to have people in government for only a fixed time.

This is important because even if those in government happen to be good people initially, they will eventually, sooner or later, begin to demonstrate the symptoms of eventual corruption as time rolls on. Let us also keep in mind what Blessed Pope John Paul II said in Mexico during the decade of the eighties when asked as to whether he thought world peace was possible. He said: Yes but only after two great evils of the 20th century are gone: communism and capitalism, because they both advance their causes through the exploitation of people.

Some leading political scientists tell us that if we were to eliminate all of the evil of communism and capitalism and try to preserve anything good we may possibly find in these two systems, we may hopefully create a viable and desirable government for all people to have and to cherish. This would involve the election of all governmental officials where the news media will bring systematic news about all those running for office free-of-charge. This would also involve that all people will have free health care and free education for life.

After all, the people are the backbone of the nation. If they are healthy and well educated we will surely have a strong nation. If people are unhealthy and barely educated then we will have a weak nation. This type of government may be referred to by a number of names including such names as social democracy or democratic socialism. This will certainly bring to an end the monopoly that that big corporations have on government officials whose job nowadays ceased to serve the people but to boss them around.

One of the greatest Chinese teachers of all time was Confucius, who was also known as Kong Fu Zi. He has been viewed as a good scholar to this very day. This admired philosopher was born in 551 B.C. in Lu, China, which is today known as Shandong province. He died in 479 B.C. In his teachings he adopted a humanitarian approach to social harmony based on the belief that, deep inside, all people want to live at peace with each other. His main instructions were conveyed to us by his students under the name of Analects.

Nature of Teachings

By the process of time, his teachings evolved into a political and religious system. This was during the Han Dynasty in the 3rd century. His teachings soon evolved into becoming the state religion of China until the latter part of the 20th century. Nowadays, some critics condemned Confucianism because it had been perceived as an impediment to modernization. Confucius was born into a poor family. He was mostly self-educated and developed mastery of six arts known as rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics.

In his thirties he became involved into a teaching career. He viewed education as constant self-improvement with its primary goal to produce noblemen. Throughout his life-time he emphasized the importance of family, school, community, state and kingdom. Most of the quotations of Confucius have evolved to become very popular. Among these we find: Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it…… Forget injuries, never forget kindness…. Ignorance is the right of the mind, but the night without moon and stars….

In addition, we find also: Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart….. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do…. Respect yourself and others will respect you…. Study the past if you would define the future…. It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop…. Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves… When anger rises, think of the consequences…..

Confucius was a deeply spiritual man who felt convinced he had special and privileged relation with Heaven. He seems to have viewed Heaven as a spiritual power that was capable of providing peace and harmony in the world among all people. For him a good life was revealed in one's compassion and love for others. He always advocated the Golden Rule: What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others. This man of wisdom often advocated devotion to parents and older siblings in addition to the practice of self-discipline.

Harmonious Relationships

Besides, Confucius also advocated harmonious relationship between ruler and subjects, between husbands and wives as well as between friends. He also emphasized the importance of the practice of self-discipline. The educational goal of Confucius was simple. He concentrated on creating gentlemen who carry themselves everywhere with grace, speak correctly, and show integrity in all things. Confucius spent most of his adult life travelling from town to town in China accompanied by his students and friends.

In these journeys he took the opportunity to provide rulers he came across with adequate advices. In quite a few instances, his advice was not appreciated and, as a result, he was put in jail for quite a few times. At 67 Confucius returned to his native place of Lu where he remained until he passed away five years later. Throughout his life he tried to provide peace and harmony among all people, which explains why he was viewed as a deeply spiritual man who was revered and admired by all those who came across him.

When scholars analyze his teachings and writings they tend to view him as one of the greatest spiritual figures in history. Among such great spiritual figures we find Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, all the way to Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and even the late Pope John Paul II. What did all of these great spiritual figures have in common? They all revealed detachment from the material things of this world. They all attached great importance on the spiritual aspect of the human being.

Besides, it was systematically noticed that all those who followed the teachings of these great spiritual teachers never regretted it. On the contrary, such teachers tended to feel deeply self-confident and fully satisfied with what they had at their disposal. Each statement they made was so spiritually deep and significant that books could eventually be written for everyone to enjoy and cherish. Considering that Confucian philosophy had dominated China for some 3,000 years we need to listen carefully to this great Chinese teacher since this way we do have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

It is quite obvious that two of the most important groups we have in this world to make a big difference for endless future generations are peace teachers and peace workers. Of course, this would require a special training, since there are so many factors or elements that are involved in the process. We learn from history that those that exert most influence on children, apart from the parents, are the teachers. Hence, we cannot take the teaching profession lightly.

Importance of Individual Preparation

Besides, we are also fully aware of the fact that those that have provided most help for those in dire need especially are the volunteers. Therefore, we should feel obligated to provide both teachers and volunteer groups with the best preparation possible as to achieve the maximum of results. To this end, we need to straighten out certain misconceptions we might have had in the past relative to these two very important elements in our world community.

We surely need to have a good philosophy of life that puts priority on the universal welfare of all people without exception. Moreover, we also need to make sure that in any position we hold in society we try to render the best service possible. In other words, we need to create a new global community where we all work as different parts of the same body with good coordination and harmony. If one part of the body becomes defective, the whole body will soon become uncomfortable and this often may lead to needless problems.

Since children are still in a stage of growth and development, they need to learn about the realities of life that surround them the way they are, that is a parte rei. They need to succeed to see them objectively, the way God sees them, that is, without any deception. This is very important since in a number of instances people in general tend to view things subjectively, which always amount to a mere expression of one's opinion or of one's feelings.

This explains why in this world we are faced with so many problems all of which, directly or indirectly, are created by people of one kind or another. Here is where a sharp line is drawn between the virtuous that are characterized by the practice of virtue, and the vicious that are measured by one's accumulation of vices. It is very important for both teachers and volunteers to be saturated in virtue. After all, the best way to win the hearts of others is by demonstrating that we practice, in the first place, the good things we preach.

Putting Priorities in Order

The way we form the first stages of life of every human will reflect on one's character and personality till the end of one's life. When we bring up a group of individuals in an environment of aggression, such individuals will eventually reveal aggressiveness in their dealing with others sooner or later. On the other hand, when we bring up a group of youngsters in an atmosphere of peace, such youngsters will eventually reveal serenity, peace and harmony in their communication with others.

To this end, Jesus of Nazareth illustrated this with small branches which happen to be curved. He said we may deal with such branches as to grow up straight during their initial growth and development. Otherwise, if we were to straighten up such branches after they are fully grown up, we will certainly end up breaking them. This also explains why Vladimir Lenin of Russia said: Give me a child until it is five and it will be bolshevist forever. The ideas we put in people's minds when young may remain with them for the rest of their lives.

We may mention here the preamble of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It starts as follows: Since wars begin in the minds of men it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. Hence, the only effective way we have at our disposal to avoid future conflicts and wars, is to be sought in education and not in weapons and military equipment. Each time these two elements were used we discovered that violence breeds violence and more violence breeds more violence.

Also, throughout history we experienced with regularity that each time we resorted to the practice of virtue, such as patience, humility, perseverance, love, among others, we always witnessed positive and constructive results. On the other hand, each time we resorted to hatred and revenge we ended up in unbearable conflicts and the never-ending of the promulgation of wars, where everyone ended up to be a loser and no one a winner. Our secret of success in human relations is to develop always a win-win situation, where everyone would benefit in peace and harmony.

One of the problems we have at this stage of history lies here. Not all teachers were prepared in their academic preparation to become peace teachers. If we were to examine the school curriculum of a college or university we are likely to find out a list of subject areas that need to be taken for graduation. These subject areas are more or less the same everywhere, like for example, study of foreign languages, history, geography, science, biology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, psychology, government and the list may go on and on.

Careful Choice of Teaching Methods

The main goal of the traditional method of teaching has been very simple: the accumulation of knowledge that is presented in the respective subject areas. Once the students reveal they did acquire such knowledge then they simply graduate and become officially certified as teachers. This way teaching becomes practically just another profession, a way of making a livelihood. The acquisition of the knowledge of the subject areas of study was the ultimate goal. In order to produce a higher level of teachers, we need to move a step further.

Every subject area without exception should become a means to a further and indispensable goal. This would consist of the eventual promotion of a permanent world peace where everyone is given the opportunity to live in harmony and to develop one's potential to the maximum possible. Let us illustrate this by a couple of examples, say, in history and geography. Teachers of these two subject areas will grade highly students who show knowledge of the events of history and who have a clear concept of the locality of nations.

However, those who were trained to become peace teachers would approach these two subject areas differently in a way that would prove to be very beneficial for every human without exception. The teacher of history may ask the students to propose ways how future struggles and wars could be avoided as never to have a World War III. Students may also be given the opportunity to become involved in local and regional conflicts in the sense that they are allowed to propose the prevention of future repetitions.

In the case of geography, the teacher may show, say, a map of Europe that existed before World War II and then another one that appeared after World War II. The peace teacher here may say: Look at this west part of Poland. Before the war this was part of Germany and the people there were viewed as Germans and travelled with a German passport. Today, the same people are viewed as polish and travel with a polish passport. Afterwards, the teacher may raise a question: Does this make any sense to you? The job of the peace teacher is not to hand answers but to stimulate students to come with their own answers.

This way students are trained to become a part of the process of history with the full realization that they can make things happen for the better or the worse, depending on what kind of actions they would choose to follow. Later, the teacher may remark saying that our pride should not be in being a German, French, Russian, Chinese or American but in being a beneficial person to the entire world. In other words, the job of the peace teacher is to raise the human consciousness that we are all members of the same body, the global community.

Expectation of Peace Teachers

Moreover, the peace teacher may try to instill in students a great sense of responsibility and encourage them to make sure that the career they pursue in life is geared toward the universal welfare of all people without exception. Also, since everything that takes place for the better or the worse, amounts to the consequences of people's actions, the teacher may show that every job we choose to undertake may be viewed as our mission to help make the world better.

This would apply especially to positions of governmental responsibility since governmental jobs are not inherited but sought by those who may wish to render services where many human lives would be affected for the better or the worse. Also, the teacher here may point out that all people from every walk of life and profession may have the vocation to serve their nation and the world at large by becoming involved in the political sphere of life. Students may here be given the opportunity to learn about the four hierarchical laws.

Such laws affect all people and cannot be taken lightly. Our responsibility is to safeguard them to the best we can. They are viewed as hierarchical because in case we have a clash the laws that are higher should be observed while those that are lower should be ignored. These four hierarchical laws may be outlined as follows: divine law, natural law, ecclesiastical law, and civic law.

1. Divine Law ?This law is also known as the divine positive law, which consists of the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses and which are found in every religion by different names. Among other things we find that we should not kill, destroy others?property, say lies, and abuse people. They also speak of the obligation we have to show love and respect for our parents.

2. Natural Law ?This consists of all those laws that God put in the order of nature since the very beginning of times. For example we have the law of gravity where everything heavier than air will tend to fall down, the law of plant growth where the roots of the trees will always grown below the surface while the trees themselves will always grow above the surface.

3. Ecclesiastical Law ?This consists of rules and regulations enacted by religious leaders that usually serve as a guide to help people lead a better and more beneficial life. Such rules and regulations should demonstrate respect toward the other two laws just mentioned. If for some reason, rules are enacted that go against the divine and natural law, then they should be disregarded.

4. Civic Law ?This is man-made law which could change from time to time. No government, no court, no authoritative source of any kind may enact laws that go against the three previously mentioned laws, especially the divine law and natural law. If such would be the case, then we have the moral obligation to disregard such laws openly and courageously by all means.

Importance of Political Involvement

Besides, the peace teacher should select some influential jobs that people may perform in life and show them about the unique opportunities they offer to enable students become more positively and constructively influential in the community. For example, students must learn that political jobs and all kind of positions in the nation and the world that carry high responsibilities are not reserved to a certain group or elite. Students, if they wish, may consider such positions as well if they do feel enough ambitious.

If we really want to change the world for the better, it would be much easier for us if we were to do that from a position of power where every decision-making is involved and carried out. While the peace teacher vocation deals mostly with students, the peace worker vocation deals with people from every walk of life and procession. Since their work is all done on a volunteer basis, such peace workers are generally working on a part time basis or on a full time basis if they are retired with a salary coming in to pay for their bills.

Peace workers represent a vast range of dedicated persons who are fully prepared to perform a variety of work that is fully beneficial to the universal welfare of all people without exception. We may have peace workers of the type of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose vocation in life was to help the poorer of the poor, as she put it. Others may be of the caliber of Mahatma Gandhi who worked fearlessly to end up the foreign occupation of his native India.

We may also find some who prefer to follow the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi leading by example the simplicity of life and the joy it produces when we renounce the material things of this world. Besides, we may have some who, like St. John Bosco, want to spend their lives with children to create good citizens.

Over the centuries, experience has shown that when we prepare ourselves to do a good job, we are more likely to succeed than if we were to pursue the same work with no preparation at all. Also, it is much easier to mold the minds of the young than of the elderly because of the mind-set phenomenon. Once we become set in our ways it would not be that easy to really change afterwards.

Bringing Constructive Changes

While tolerating and struggling with the present generation of adults in general, we should move with full determination and energy we can have to bring about in the world a radical change for the better in the future. This could be done best through the solid build-up of a generation of peace teachers and peace workers. Both of these peace groups need to build their work on the peace philosophy as presented to us in the early part of the first century by Seneca.

This man was a Roman philosopher who was very much concerned with peace that comes with the preservation of the welfare of all people. Around the year 42 A.D. Seneca said clearly that world peace would come even permanently if we were to educate all of our children and make them glance at the whole world and say: Omins orbs terrarum patria mea est ?the whole world is my native land. Unfortunately, this philosophy was never implemented.

As a result, we have witnessed wars continuously for the past 2,000 years. All other philosophies that came during this period did not produce permanent results as far as real peace is concerned. As the familiar saying goes, it is better late than never. We need to take seriously the content of this presentation by convincing ourselves that preparing peace teachers and peace workers in our communities is a gigantic step in the right direction that cannot be taken lightly.

The good news is that the momentum has already started even though it may not be fully visible on a global scale. We need always to take over where others leave off. The positive and constructive steps that we may take to become directly involved in this world-wide peace process may be outlined as follows:

1. Conviction that the manifold problems of the world would be better solved when we are in peace than when we are at war.
2. Initiative in doing constructive work in the best interest of all people.
3. Determination in never giving up when confronted with problems.
4. Ability to do everything positive with determination and perseverance.

In view of what has been stated, it is quite obvious that the creation of peace teachers and peace workers everywhere is all we need to help bring the entire world several steps closer to a permanent peace in our community.

We can help solve all problems of our earthly community only if we were to get directly to their source. As the scholastics indicated: Quidquid contingens est causam habet – Whatever comes into being must have a cause. People across every continent are going through crucial pain of one kind or another. Such pain did not pop up from the midst of nowhere. Since in this world only people make things happen for the better or the worse, we may safely conclude that the origin all the problems facing the world could be traced to people.

Exposing the Source of Existent Problems

Our job as concerned citizens is to find the source of an existent problem as to bring it into the open for everyone to see with clarity. As Socrates said, when people become aware of the source of their problems, they proceed to take needed steps courageously and fearlessly and the problems are solved. If we were to analyze every problem that human beings faced, we will soon discover that such problems could always be traced to violations of the Divine Law.

This law is always applicable to all people of every culture, religion and philosophical orientation. Although the name of such a divine law may vary in various global areas, its essence remains the same… totally unchangeable for all practical purposes. The Divine Law was instituted by the Supreme Essence of the Universe, known as Causa Prima – the First Cause by Aristotle and simply as the Supreme Being, commonly known as God.

In the Judeo, Christian and Islamic tradition, this Divine Law is also referred to as the Ten Commandments that God gave to all of us around the world. The Divine Law was meant to protect God’s children from human abuses. As Jesus and many ascetical writers reminded us, God is pleased with us when we reveal our love for Him by action through the faithful observance of the Divine Law. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

God’s Ten Commandments may be stated briefly as follows: 1) Make God the most important element of your life, 2) Refer to God’s name with respect, 3) Devote God’s weekly day in holiness, 4) Demonstrate respect toward your parents, 5) Preserve the life of others by not killing anyone, 6) Respect the purity of people’s life, 7) Avoid stealing anything from others, 8) Prevent yourself from deceiving others through lies, 9) Show gratitude toward every wife you come across, and 10) Develop respect toward your neighbor’s property. We may trace the source of all problems in history through violations of such commandments.

People in Authority Fully Accountable

When those that violate these divine commandments happen to be people in authority, then the harm that comes out as a result may go on for several decades and even for many centuries. Hence, we cannot close our eyes to any action taken by those in authority, regardless of what their titles may be. When they perform actions that are in line with the Divine Law, then we should give them our wholehearted support. But when their actions reveal defiance to such a sacred law, then we should become vocal and demonstrate our opposition.

Each time we are faced with a conflict that reveals clearly a struggle between God and the Devil, we should throw our full weight behind God against the Devil by all means and without any hesitation. We may illustrate this by a few tangible examples that involve violations against the Divine Law. For all practical purposes, let us take the Ten Commandments, one by one as follows:

1) Making God the Supreme Being of our lives by observing His wishes on a daily basis with no exceptions whatsoever.

2) Referring to God’s name with respect in a way that He always comes first in our lives.

3) Devoting one full day a week in prayer and meditation as to seal my spiritual union with God by all means.

4) Demonstrating respect toward our parents, without whom we would have not been born to become an integral part of a constructive society.

5) Preserving the life of others by not killing and maiming anyone. This means that the waging of wars, under any circumstance, is strictly forbidden. Our culture of war mentality should be fully obliterated.

6) Respecting the purity of people’s life by not taking advantage of them through exploitation and other abusive means.

7) Avoiding stealing anything from others. Over the centuries, wars were mostly waged to control entire communities and nations and to confiscate from them anything good they may have.

8) Preventing ourselves from deceiving others through lies. There are hardly any politicians in the world that use honesty and fairness in dealing with people everywhere.

9) Showing gratitude toward every wife you come across. There has been hardly any war where women in general were spared from being treated as a piece of property without any respect for their human dignity. 10) Developing respect toward your neighbor’s property. Over the centuries to this very day, numerous sophisticated weapons have been developed whose purpose is to kill more and more people and to destroy their properties beyond repair. The latest of such weapons are known as the drones.

Culture of War Mentality in Perspective

Over the last few thousands of years, the entire world has been immersed in a culture of war mentality. The philosophy of the vast majority of nations has been built on machismo. In order to get what you want you have to become brutal as to take by force what you cannot take easily by peaceful means. The sacredness of human lives ceased to exist since it became only an instrument to get what one wants by all means. This culture of war has become a nightmare. We need to keep in mind that in a war everyone is a loser, now one a winner.

To make things worse, the manufacture and sales of weapons, along with the waging of never-ending wars, turned into a lucrative business, which nowadays it is all that counts. Weapons of all kinds are sold to all those who are ready to give the right price, friends and foes alike. Those nations that manufacture and sell weapons tell us that they want to make sure that their allies would be well protected in case they are attacked. Those that make such claims are either naïve or phenomenally wicked.

If they really believe what they say, then they must be naïve, morons in the strict sense. If they say so as an excuse to justify their continued manufacture and sales of weapons merely for profit, then they must be wicked, very brutal at heart. We need to learn from history that those nations that are our allies today may turn to become our mortal enemies tomorrow. Iran under the Shah was viewed as an ally by the USA. But under the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran was then viewed as an emerging enemy.

The United States as a capitalistic nation believes that when it comes to making money, the “sky is not the limit.” This means we may device any plan we want as long as it generates more and more money in our pockets. The consideration as to whether it would be wise to equip other nations with weapons of all kind as to wage wars without any end in sight is never taken into consideration. Hence, we may begin to realize that those that are responsible for the manufacture and sales of weapons and the waging of wars have become our de facto brutal enemies.

There is no need to go into far-away lands to search for our mortal and deadly enemies. Our brutal enemies are to be sought in our native land. In view of what has been stated, we may now easily recognize them without the slightest shadow of a doubt. They are all those who, when it comes to action, they demonstrate total disregard for the Divine Law as explained in the Ten Commandments outlined and explained earlier. Our notorious and most brutal enemies are those involved with the manufacture and sales of weapons of all kind. They are known as the weapons and the military industries.

Our Mortal and Deadly Enemies at Work

Our mortal and deadly enemies have developed the habit to look at us in the eyes with artificial smiles, while trying to convince us that they feel deeply “obligated” to look after our security. These are normally our government officials whom we elect to whip things into order by putting the bulk of money in areas that are vital to our lives. These would include a good health care system, guaranteed social security, the best education possible for all citizens as to develop their talents to the maximum possible, and adequate home facilities for all people especially those in dire need.

Every government in the world that allows a foreign nation to build military bases on its territory is contributing toward the creation of animosity and needless threats to nearby countries. We have reached a stage in history where every single country cannot feel safe any longer. The reason lies in the fact that with our war products we are constantly germinating the seeds of future conflicts and wars. The time has arrived when all people of all countries should make sure that their respective nation develops into an island of peace and not serving as a platform for never-ending wars.

Every government that allows its nation to develop into a platform for future possible wars has, willy-nilly, become a brutal and notorious enemy not only to its own people but also to the people of the surrounding countries as well. Good intentions are not enough since we learned from history that the “way to hell is paved with good intentions.” We do have a substantial number of good countries, which are doing very well in their pursuit for a permanent peace. We may enlist Costa Rica in Central America, Malaysia in Asia, New Zealand in the South Pacific, in addition to others.

What do such countries demonstrate to have in common? They all refuse military aid of any kind and, instead, they opt for health care needs along with useful medical equipment, good education and adequate homes especially for the needy. They also believe the presence of the military stimulates suspicion.

Unless the institution of the military is changed from a war agency into a humanitarian organization, its presence has become increasingly detested by people everywhere. Since World War II ended in 1945, the United States became involved in wars more than all the nations of the world combined. Each time it became involved in war conflicts, the people of the locality like in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan always detested foreign military presence, from which they experienced systematical brutality. The military destroyed brutally not only the infrastructure of cities but killed numerous citizens without mercy.

Carrying out Brutal Orders Blindly

Everybody knows that the military in a nation is there to carry out orders from the government such a military represents. Still, the military is held fully accountable for all the atrocities people experience, among which the loss of their homes, places of worship and schools. This always creates thousands of refugees. In addition, many children become orphans since so many parents get killed. All of this explains why people in many countries have described the military as a terrorist organization sanctioned by the government that sent them.

Those nations in the world that believe in what they term to be “strong military” to provide for “national defense and security,” have proven that they have absolutely learned nothing from a recorded history of 6,000 years of civilization. History has repeatedly taught us that violence breeds violence and more violence breeds more violence. We often hear of the military used to bring about peace. When the military destroys cities along with the lives of people, the whole area is turned into a “cemetery” that is referred to as “peace!”

Since the beginning of times, there has never been a cemetery that was not peaceful. When people are dead and buried you never hear afterwards any noise from them. This is how the military is used by governments to bring about peace in any global area. Besides, the military has been the only institution in history that is accountable to no one. When we kill innocent people, we may be arrested, and later brought to trial for our act of murder. But when soldiers kill innocent people, upon their return home they are received and treated as heroes!

Finally, we may begin to see with crystal clarity that through a careful study of the realities that surround us, it would not take us long to discover the most brutal enemies of our earthly community. As stated earlier, to make constructive contributions to our earthly society, we need to explore and find the source of an existent problem as to bring it into the open for everyone to see with clarity. Once we all become aware of such a source, constructive actions are then bound to be taken and any brutal problem we face would then be solved.

Governments of all kinds seem to have at least one thing in common. They want to convince everyone that all their actions are performed in the best interest of their respective population. Of course, experience demonstrates that this is not necessarily true in any way whatsoever. All we need to do is simply to analyze their behavior in terms of results, since actions are stronger and more credible than words. Unfortunately, there seems to be not one government in the whole world that could be termed as perfect.

Need for Good Government Officials

At least, we need to do our best to create the best government possible. We need government officials who genuinely and sincerely try to do their very best to alleviate problems and diminish needless suffering as much as possible. Every government has the potential to contribute by all means toward the promotion of peace or war both within the nation and the world at large. In other words, government officials must make it a point to do everything in their power to perform actions that are merely positive and constructive.

Besides, they must keep in mind that the whole world is one single unit where all people from every walk of life and profession live. If the water and air of one nation is polluted, other nations are going to be affected as well. This means that all people of all nations tend to be physically strong or weak on a mutually beneficial or destructive basis. Hence, no government in the world has the right to perform actions that are harmful to people’s health in any way whatsoever. This would be abusive and criminal.

In view of this, we may realize and understand that those who seek governmental positions out of lust for power should not be there in the first place. The only government officials that seem to be fit for the position they hold are those who genuinely and sincerely view the government’s job as a means of good and effective service. Those who occupy governmental position are merely the servants of the people. They must listen to what the people have to say.

Afterwards, they must try to fulfill the people’s needs by all means. Like good parents, government officials are obligated to look after the vital needs of all the people without exception. Among such vital needs, which may be viewed as sacrosanct human rights, are health care, education, and adequate home facilities. A nation may be viewed as strong or weak by the health of the people. When people are healthy and strong, then we do have a healthy and strong nation. When every citizen is given the opportunity to develop one’s talents to the maximum possible, then we will have an affluent nation.

Fulfillment of People's Dire Needs

When all people have adequate home facilities, then most of the anxieties are soon gone before we even know it. This way, people are enabled to spend their full time performing positive and constructive work. As a matter of fact, they are given the opportunity to become more creative in the best interest of the entire nation and even, very often, the whole world. Yet, we do have a number of governments, whose philosophy does not seem to be healthy at all that, very sadly, view weapons and wars as their source of hope and security!

They seem to forget for all practical purposes, as revealed in a recorded history of 6,000 years, that weapons and wars have always served to create nightmares and to make people suffer mercilessly. We learn from history that weapons and wars have always instigated more weapons and more wars. Besides, like Pope Pius XII said on the eve of World War II to both the Germans and the British: In a war everyone is a loser and no one is a winner. Germany lost the war and its economy collapsed and people were poor everywhere.

On the other hand, the United Kingdom won the war and its economy equally collapsed. People were, likewise, poor everywhere. Not only so, but the victorious United Kingdom lost its British Empire as a result. This means that the choice is crystal clear. Governments, as a whole, are faced with a dilemma. They must view their role as one that promotes war or as one that promotes peace. As the Romans used to say: Si vis pacem para pacem and si vis bellum para bellum --- If you want peace prepare for peace and if you want war prepare for war.

One US President, whose name was Richard Nixon, tried to reverse this 2,000 years traditional dictum by saying: Si vis pacem, para bellum – if you want peace prepare for war. This explains why the USA, at this stage of history, gives top priority in its expenditure on the manufacture and sales of weapons and the never-ending development of the military industrial complex. And we know the rest of the story. The USA is today the greatest debtor on earth with trillions of dollars in debt and the American people are suffering immensely as a result.

The world at large is convinced that the two wars the USA waged on Afghanistan and Iraq could have been avoided. Instead of accumulating trillions of dollars in debts, the USA might have accumulated all of that money in surplus. But the American addiction to war is so deep and so strong that this nation continues to build up more military bases around the world, in addition to the 746 foreign military bases it already accumulated. Jesus of Nazareth was right when he said: Homo hominis lupus -- man is his own worst enemy. The USA emerged to become its worst enemy with its belligerent policies.

Achievement of Permanent Peace

Ironically, in statistical studies made among people in countries around the world, it was found out that almost all of them prefer peace than war. They all feel safer when they live in peace than in war. If such is the case, then why is it that a substantial number of governments continue to accumulate more weapons and never cease to resort to war each time they find an opportunity? Many answers were given to this question. The most popular seem to be the fact that those in government that promote war tend to make a lot of money.

They view war as a business venture and for money they seem to be ready to do anything conceivable, including the needless suffering and massacre of their own people! If governments want really to create in the world an atmosphere of perpetual peace, they must take the initiative, the sooner the better, to take drastic steps to have the very concept of war erased from the surface of our planet. Let us keep in mind that in our earthly community only governments create and promote war, which they could always avoid.

Similarly, in this world governments have the power to create and promote peace on a perpetual basis. In his farewell speech to the US Congress, former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower reminded the entire members of the US governments saying emphatically: Remember that all people of all nations want peace, only their government wants war. Unfortunately, the words of this famous US President seemed to have been taken lightly by both the news media and the members of the US Congress as a whole.

Let us keep our hopes up and never be discouraged. All of us have the opportunity to make substantial contributions, both by both words and actions, to enable our government officials do a more positive and constructive job. We should continue with our effort to help them see that they would reveal greater wisdom in their efforts to promote disarmament and arms control than the other way round. As stated earlier, let us bring once more to our mind the words of Pope Pius XII: In a war everyone is a loser and no one winner.

One of the worst crimes in human experience is termed to be abuse of power. Those in power of any kind have the opportunity to elevate those around them to a higher level of existence making their lives enjoyable and peaceful, or to sink them to a state of frustration, desolation and suffering. When power is used properly and conscientiously, there seems always to be God’s blessings pouring in to the full benefit of all involved and concerned. In other words, power can lead to a lot of good or to a tremendous amount of evil.

Nature of Abuse of Power

Many ascetical writers view abuse of power as a criminal assault on humanity, which is found in every realm of our communities. Its source could be generally traced to greed and selfishness, to jealousy and irresponsibility, or to indifference and apathy. Some of the best resources we have at our disposal to combat abuse of power may be enlisted as humility, kindness, understanding, patience, generosity, and dedication to the service of others. St. Augustine viewed love as the foundation for the solution of all problems we may encounter.

In quite a number of instances we may have hard times in trying to distinguish actions that stem from genuine love and concern from those that eventually stem from egoism and selfishness. This is truly so each time we may try to evaluate political actions of any kind. As we may all know, politicians may have hidden agendas, which compel them to say one thing and do another to the disappointment and frustration of all those involved and concerned.

If we were to comprehend the four hierarchical laws of which many outstanding theologians and philosophers spoke very clearly, then we may be in a position to make accurate judgments whenever needed, especially in the political arena. The four hierarchical laws may be enlisted as follows: divine, natural, ecclesiastical and civic.

The Divine Law represents the traditionally known Ten Commandments, which God gave to Moses. The Natural Law consists of the order of nature that is meant to keep the whole set-up of creation moving forward properly and constructively. The Ecclesiastical Law is meant to serve as a good means to guard and safeguard these two laws just mentioned in addition to providing good guidelines for all of us to lead always a good and constructive life.

Civic Law in Operation

The Civic Law consists of all laws enacted by human beings supposedly to safeguard and protect their individual and collective interests. While both the Divine Law and the Natural Law were provided by God Himself, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Ecclesiastical Law has been provided by spiritually oriented individuals or groups in the hope of keeping the world going properly in order in peace and harmony. Abuse of Power is likely to be traced to some enacted Civic Law of one kind or another.

In fact, if we were to analyze every abuse of power conceivable, we may easily trace it to Civic Laws enacted that show disrespect to either the Divine Law or the Natural Law. When we are faced with objective reality, as to whether we agree or disagree it is totally irrelevant. Let us illustrate this by few examples. In the Divine Law we find such commandments as: you should not kill, you should not say lies and you should not destroy the property of others. This means we are not free to get a gun and kill anyone.

Also, a civic authority, generally known as government, is morally prohibited to send a group of individuals into other countries to destroy the infrastructure of cities, in addition to human lives! Each time this is done we are witnessing abuse of power in operation, which becomes literally a criminal assault on humanity. Besides, in accordance with the Natural Law, all human beings have a sacrosanct right to survive, to be healthy and to be fully educated as to develop their talents to the maximum of their potential.

The provision of such vital elements constitutes a sacrosanct human right. Those in government that fail to provide their people with such important elements are violating their people’s sacrosanct human right. Again, this is another example of abuse of power, which may be viewed as a heinous crime. The fact that we find government officials that disagree with these statements, does not give them even the remote possibility that they may be right. It simply means they are either acting in supine ignorance, if they have good intentions or they are acting with vicious malice if they were to have ulterior motives.

The real secret to the solution of all problems on a global scale lies in our ability to procure means that are beneficial to all people across every continent without exception. From the early days of human existence, people soon found out that they are fully interdependent for the better or the worse. In view of this, we need to make sure that in everything we do we always prove to be fully beneficial to each other. This way we will have everything to gain and nothing to lose. All of us would experience inner joy and satisfaction.

Constructive Use of Our Uniqueness

In spite of the fact that we are very different individuals, we still could see the enrichment of our unique character and personality as a result. Considering that we were all imbued with different qualities, the sharing of our diverse experiences will enable us to develop a greater sense of responsibility toward each other. Some ascetical writers tell us that the greatness of God is revealed in the fact that He was capable of creating millions and billions of people making each one of them so unique that no one could ever be duplicated.

Besides, some theologians, speaking on the greatness of God, contend that God, in His infinite power, gave to each human being at least one talent that makes each one of us superior to the rest of all people that ever existed and will ever exist. In view of this, our wisdom may be revealed in our ability to seek and find our unique talent as to develop it to the maximum possible to help make the lives of others considerable better. The shortest cut to this end will be for all of us to share with each other anything positive and constructive.

Unfortunately, for many centuries human beings tended to form cliques whose real purpose was to stick together against others and most often ended up waging wars against each other. In doing so, many have soon discovered that in wars everyone ends up to be a loser and no one a winner. And to turn an insult into injury, wars tend to destroy the talents of each one of us instead of safeguarding them. They also tend to sow the seed of hatred instead of love.

Talking of universal love, St. Augustine often told people around him: Ama et fac quod vis – Love and do anything you like. This great saint firmly believed that love proves to be the secret of success in all of our endeavors. Besides, love is viewed as the best instrument to develop great responsibility not only for each one of us but for the entire world as well. This would eventually give us what people have desired for many centuries: peace, which starts with our environment and is then extended to the whole world.

Governmental Responsibility at Work

Needless to say, the governments of nations everywhere bear the greatest share of world responsibility. Their actions may prove often to be beneficial or detrimental. Usually when they tend to be beneficial we are bound to experience peace for an extended period of time. A good environment is generally created where people enjoy the same necessities of life relative to good housing facilities, health care, and education. These qualities cannot be taken lightly since the strength of a nation can be best measured not in terms of military capabilities but by the strength and constructive productivity of the nation’s people.

For quite a few centuries now, nations grew, developed and spread in accordance with cliques they managed to form up. This was, from the outset, what gave rise to traditional conventional wars. In this process, altruism was replaced by egoism, generosity by selfishness, humility by pride, and prudence by arrogance. In other words, all the elements that are vital for us to share world responsibility and live at peace with each other were suffocated mostly by the actions we chose to perform toward each other.

It is certainly never late for us to learn, especially from the mistakes of our past. Confronted by this reality we should not feel discouraged especially when we keep in mind that to err is human and to forgive is divine. Quite often, mistakes enable us to mature fast and to do things considerably better afterwards. The most effective way to share world responsibility is for us to realize that whatever one nation does for the better or the worse, it is bound to affect the nearby nations radically by all means.

For example, if one nation pollutes its air and water the nearby nations may share the same type of pollution to the detriment of their health, whether they like it or not. Of course, the other way round is equally true. We learn from a rapid glance at history, that when nations do things right that are beneficial to all people, everyone ends up benefitting immensely. We always end up having what may be termed a win-win situation. Last but not least, this effective sharing of world responsibility often starts by each one of us individually.

Over the past few decades, the United States has emerged to become the most violent nation in the civilized world. This did not happen overnight. In fact, we can trace this nation’s source of violence to the draft of its Constitution, which has now emerged to become the nation’s dangerous enemy. Jesus of Nazareth described the human being as homo hominis lupus, which may be translated as man is his own worst enemy.

Enactment of US Constitution

Although the US Constitution was written in good faith, a couple of centuries later a small segment of it has become malignant and it needs now to be removed. We know that when one develops a cancer, such a malady becomes a threat to one’s life and needs to be taken away. The more we delay removing it the more it may spread beyond hope before we know it. The malignant tumor in the US Constitution is found in the phrase: the right to bear arms.

The Founders of the US Constitution decided to insert such a phrase because of their times. At that time there were no airplanes, no trains, no busses, no radars, no telephones, and no facilities for communication. Confronted by such facts, these Founders saw it wise to insert that everyone in the nation has a right to bear arms and that such a right cannot be infringed. Once the people left their town they would be the only source of their defense and safety.

Over the past 300 years, the circumstances fully changed. Today, this nation has many airports, plenty of trains and busses, in addition to telephones, mobiles and radars that control every inch of the entire nation. This means that the constitutional phrase referring to the right of everyone to bear arms everywhere is no longer applicable. Instead of abrogating this malignant phrase or replacing the word “right” by the world “privilege,” some leading sources in the nation continue to fight for such a “right.”

As a result, there are millions of guns and military equipment in the hands of tens of thousands who have often used such weapons to kill many people from every walk of life and profession, including little children, like we have seen in December 2012 in Newton, Connecticut. We have witnessed there six teachers being killed along with 20 children ages 6 and 7 in just one morning. Such episodes in the United States take place periodically. Ironically, some states even allow students to carry concealed weapons on campus on a daily basis!

Money behind Bizarre Actions

In order to understand the tremendous opposition we face from a number of sources when it comes to updating the US Constitution as to make it more relevant and safe, we have to comprehend other sources as well. As a Capitalist nation, the philosophy of this country is based on making money without limit from any source possible. The manufacture and sales of guns and other weapons have emerged into a lucrative business. We have eventually developed a mafia type of society that would justify anything if it generates money.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has quite a few millions of members all of them owning guns and other types of weapons. This organization makes tens of millions of dollars yearly and uses most of this money to finance those running for political offices and who promote strongly the right to bear arms. Each time we have massacres by private individuals, the gun makers and dealers, instead of proposing strict gun control laws, they advocate that every single American should be equipped with guns for self-defense!

All that you need in the USA to purchase and own guns along with all kind of weapons is merely money. Some time ago a few teen agers in California were asked as to whether it was difficult for them to purchase guns. The answer was quick: We do not need any permission or license to get all the guns we want; we need only to have money since we can purchase guns like a piece of candy! Since everyone in the USA can carry legally concealed weapons, when it comes to the safeguard of the American people both the military and the police force are rendered helpless and hopeless. They are totally incapacitated.

We may here understand why during the decade of the eighties, Blessed Pope John Paul II said in Mexico that world peace would come but only after two of the greatest evils of the 20th century are gone. He stated that these two great evils are communism and capitalism because both advance their causes through the exploitation of people. Shortly after communism collapsed and the world took a sigh of relief. Then capitalism moved forward to dominate the world through the exploitation of people and the human resources.

Following the massacre of six teachers and 20 little children in Newton, Connecticut in December 2012, President Barack Obama vouched to do his utmost to have the US government ban assault weapons. This is expected to take place hopefully in the early part of the year 2013. Still, the US President is experiencing opposition from a number of Senators and Congressmen to have such a ban become a law. Although this would be a step in the right direction, the safety of all Americans would require by all means some kind of control over the excessive manufacture and sales of guns as well.

Culture of War Nation

We may begin to realize how the USA is fully built on the culture of war whose real goal is to generate endless money. The more violence is created within the USA and around the world, the more the capitalists in this nation, through the weapons industry and the military industrial complex, become capable of generating unlimited money. Scholastic philosophers, headed by St. Thomas Aquinas, tell us: nemo dat quod not habet – no one can give something that one does not have. As a rule, we give others only from what we have.

All of this explains why the United States seems to have made it a point to try to equip as many nations as possible with all kind of weapons and military equipment. This is not motivated from a genuine concern for such nations’ safeguard and security. It is all instigated from the offered opportunity to bring as many countries under full control through the creation of fear and the consequent need for what is termed to be “self-defense.” This is fully verified by the fact that the USA today has military bases in more than 146 nations.

Ironically, while such countries as China and Japan would offer other nations assistance in the areas of medicine and education, the United States would offer to these same nations assistance in the provision of weapons and military equipment, along with the building and training of a national military unit. A quick glance at the entire recorded history of civilization over the past 6,000 years show us continuously and systematically that violence breeds violence and more violence breeds more violence.

Some of the leading and most influential individuals that had great impact on the evolution of history provided solutions to many crucial problems through peaceful dialogues. They were all adamant in their condemnation of violence of any kind for they were fully convinced that violence makes everyone a loser and no one a winner. Mahatma Gandhi advocated that we can overcome all kinds of problems through peaceful means, as he demonstrated in his opposition to the mighty British military force in his nation of India.

We should always keep in mind the admonition Jesus of Nazareth gave to his disciple Peter when he took out his sword to defend his Master Teacher. Jesus warned Peter saying: Put the sword away for he who kills by the sword will die by the sword. If Jesus were to address the United States at this stage of history, we should not be surprised if he states loud and clear: Put your guns away for those who kill by the guns will die by the guns. The fact that in the USA people can buy guns like pieces of candy with no required license is rendering gun ownership to become highly abusive and notably dangerous.

National Priorities at Work

Where does the USA put its top priorities when it comes to national expenditures? If actions speak louder than words, this nation has regularly put the bulk of its money not on the health care, education and housing facilities of its people, but on the manufacture and sales of weapons and the systematic promotion of wars. The USA has some 900 foreign military bases that consume billions of dollars monthly. This is totally wasted money, which is being taken from the vital needs of the American people to their very own detriment.

The numerous military bases the USA has in countries across every continent, demonstrates its thirst for the potential creation of upheavals and conflicts. The presence of the military has never served in history to provide food for the hungry, to furnish house facilities for the homeless, to give medical assistance to the sick, and to help schools with needed educational equipment. The military by its very nature exists to promote violence, which is supported by the government regardless of the consequences.

The United States has emerged to become the only nation in history that developed the habit to use its military around the entire world to control as many nations as possible from every aspect conceivable. This nation has put itself constantly above the law. While it does what it likes and no one is expected to stop her, it continues to dictate to other nations what they should and should not do. For example, it’s all right for this nation to have thousands of nuclear weapons and to use them as it pleases even without warning.

At the same time, while it allows countries like Israel to have an unlimited amount of nuclear weapons, the USA prohibits a number of nations, including Iran, from having even one single nuclear weapon. This nation needs to keep in mind that if one nation claims the right to have nuclear weapons, every other nation on earth has the same identical right. If the USA was not deeply trenched in the culture of war, it would have taken drastic steps long time ago to develop an international program of disarmament and arms control.

Theoretically, the United States could still devise a good way in taking such a step toward disarmament and arms control. But in practice things are entirely different. As stated earlier, the USA is a capitalistic nation that puts top priority on making money without limit. To this end, every step taken would become justifiable, even if it involves the destruction of the infrastructure of cities and the massacre of numerous innocent people. When the USA was asked about the number of civilians that were killed in Iraq, the answer was simple: We do not keep a count on such an item since we view that as collateral damage!

Curbing Military Expenditure

If 50% of the military budget were to be cut off, the USA would still remain militarily the most powerful nation on earth, as pointed out by former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. This nation could then use most of this “wasted military money” to eliminate from the surface of our planet plenty of suffering and misery. However, when violence becomes a standard policy of a nation, especially in its foreign affairs, it would be somewhat difficult for the world at large to develop trust and confidence in such a nation.

In his farewell address to the US Congress, President Dwight Eisenhower said clearly: Remember that all people of all nations want peace, only their government wants war. Unfortunately, this well-inspired US president was never taken seriously to this day. Still, we may continue to move forward with determination until we set up a solid ground for the creation of a genuine and lasting world-wide peace. Unless the United States makes peace rather than war as top priority, it may soon cease to be a world power, before we even know it.

Needless to say, there are many sources that continue to encourage the American addiction to violence and wars. All those responsible individuals and organizations that remain silent when confronted with US foreign war policies, share in the guilt of all those that promote violence and wars. Clergymen need to advocate our sacrosanct moral obligation to promote love and peace among each other instead of hatred and wars. Lawyers ought to demonstrate that the promotion of violence and wars constitutes a violation of human rights.

Teachers at all levels of education should make it clear that all human beings, regardless of where they come from, are morally obligated to promote policies of harmony and peace. And all law-abiding citizens are to communicate periodically to their government officials to remind them that they expect to see from them policies that would lead to the solution of all the problems we face through healthy dialogues and never through wars of any kind. This would enable the USA to become the most peaceful nation on earth in due time.

As the saying goes, there are two sides of a coin. On one hand, Religion could be viewed as a blessing and a source of inspiration. On the other hand, Religion could be seen as a source of trouble and confusion that may turn many into becoming prejudiced and skeptical. A careful analysis of this conclusion will enable us to see why Religion is viewed as having one side that is positive and constructive and another other side that is negative and destructive.

Positive and Constructive Aspects

Religion as judged from its ideals is positive and constructive. However, in a number of instances when judged from the way adherents behave religion may give the impression of being negative and destructive. Let us first explore the ideals of some of the major religions before we go to the negative behavior of some of the adherents. This may enable us to instill more respect and better understanding of the teachings and views of our respective major religions. It may eventually enable us to view religion as the best instrument of peace.

Judaism views the Old Testament as its source of inspiration and eventual behavior. It is commonly known as the Bible, which carries a variety of books among which the Pentateuch, which talks about the creation and experiences of the forefathers of the Jewish people. The Nevi'im covers the early and latter prophets. It covers the history of various wars along with the teachings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The Ketuvim covers the psalms, the suffering of the book of Job, the experiences of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ruth and the Book of Daniel.

Christianity views the New Testament as its source of inspiration and eventual behavior. Hundreds of spiritually oriented individuals over the past 2,000 years provided a lot of literature, which elaborated on the inspirational teachings of Jesus Christ. One of such writers was St. Thomas Aquinas whose theological writings are second to none. Some of the leading figures that served as inspiration to millions may be enlisted at random as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Therese of Avila, St. Anthony of Padova, and St. Augustine.

Islam views the Koran as its source of inspiration and eventual behavior. It is viewed by some to be the Bible of Moslems. One good piece of literature is Hadith, which records the sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad. Several inspiring pieces of literature were from India and Persia that were translated into Arabic, which became a source of inspiration and spiritual upliftment. The Book of Misers is a collection of stories about the avaricious. The Orchard consists of stories illustrating the virtues of Muslims are supposed to possess.

Buddhism relies heavily on the teachings of Gautama Siddhartha, who is commonly known as Buddha. A popular writing is the Amithaba, which consists of the various concepts of God, non-violence, and religious tolerance. There is also the Buddhist Bible consisting of a collection of key Zen documents that enabled the spread of Buddhism in English speaking countries. Gospel of Buddha, which covers Buddha's work and life compiled from ancient records. These documents, in addition to others, are notably positive and constructive.

Hinduism tries to understand good human behavior from such literature that includes Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavad-Gita. Ramayana praises the heroism and virtues of Aryan warrior-princes. Focus is made on speaking the truth and making sacrifices for the sake of virtue against the evils of greed, lust and deceit. Mahabharata attempts to be an encyclopedia of morality. One of its heroes is Krishna. Bhagavad-Gita is seen as Hinduism's most popular scriptures, which was followed closely by Mahatma Gandhi.

We got a view of the positive and constructive aspects of such religions. Since millions tend to abuse religion, we need to analyze well their behavior.

Judaism is a very good religion, which in olden times it was viewed as God's religion, the one He provided to the famous prophets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Among other things, in Judaism we find the phrase "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." This means if you destroy the property of others, your property should be destroyed in return.

Judged from how Israel reacts to Palestinian protestors for the confiscation of their land, the Israelis opted for "one thousand eyes for one eye and one thousand teeth for one tooth." This generated hatred for the State of Israel.

Christianity is based on genuine love for one's neighbors. Jesus made it clear to his disciples saying: Do to others what you would like others to do to you. He also advocated the elimination of retaliation exhorting his followers to be good even to their enemies. The USA many Christian members in the US Congress view abortion as murder since life is viewed to start at conception.

Yet, these same US government officials continue to put billions of dollars on the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of wars. And to turn an insult into injury, they referred to the brutal massacre of civilians in Iraq as collateral damage! This means for these American Christians life is sacred only from conception to birth. What happens after is not much of a big deal!

Islam is obviously a very good religion, as testified in its authoritative literature. Unfortunately, many of its followers go to extreme as to create a bad image on this holy religion unnecessarily. For example, the Koran speaks of the Jihad, which consists of the waging of a "holy war." Within the context, such a war is to be waged against our own vices, which should be replaced by virtues.

Muslims are expected to replace hatred with love, pride with humility, anger with tolerance, and so on. The tragedy with a handful of vocal Muslims lays in the fact they take pride in promoting a holy war against the other children of God, since God views all people as His own children. This kind of Jihad is best described as a cursed war that is meant to please Satan rather than God.

Buddhism has perhaps proven to be the most peaceful religion in our earthly community. Buddhists seem to have least attachment to the material things of this world. They tend to lead a very simple life and they never hesitate to help all people in need they come across. They do not seem to have members that go to extremes by way of habit, like we do find in the other religions.

In many circles, Buddhism has often been described as a very peaceful religion whose members are generally saturated in virtue. They tend to do good to those that may wish to harm them. Their chanting instills peace and serenity among those that happen to be present. One hardly ever finds the ambition among Buddhists governmental leaders to dominate others.

Hinduism may be viewed as the most peaceful next to Buddhism, even though we do find in history quite a few Hindus that waged wars. Even here, they tended to reveal much less aggressiveness than that revealed by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Their tendency to pray and meditate seems to have become their characteristic. They are mostly concerned with their individual happiness which they would yearn to share with others.

In conclusion, all major religions have plenty of good to offer. Our negative and destructive experience about religion always stems from the bad behavior of its adherents. Let us try to learn and fully benefit from each one of them without being influenced by the negative and destructive conduct of the followers of such valuable spiritual inheritance.

The best way to bring into perspective the culture of death in the United States is to examine what this nation seeks to do in theory and then in practice. Over the years, many statements were formulated to portray this phenomenon with clarity. The Romans used to say: Aliud est dicere, aliud est facere - One thing is theory, another thing is practice. The Italians tell us: Tra il dire e il fare c’e’ in mezzo il mare – Between saying and doing there is an abyss.

Leading Political Parties

Like in virtually any other country in the world, the American people are virtually helpless especially in the sphere of politics. In spite of the fact that the United States is a huge country with over 300 million people, there are practically only two major political parties: Democrats and Republicans. Although the two parties have quite a few things in common, they present a very different agenda which often seems to be diametrically opposite. Ironically, when they criticize each other there is at least one thing in common, which is conspicuous.

Both tend to play on words as to confuse people in an effort to bring them under full control. This explains why so many people seem to be so confused. The right hand does not seem to know what the left hand is doing and the other way round. There are many reasons for this eventuality, which consist in the political tendency to make statements that reveal half truths that tend to make lies become more effective. This explains why so many people in the USA feel so frustrated as to lose all faith and hope in their politicians.

Ascetical writers tell us that the devil that is described as the “father of lies,” is too smart to utter full lies. He always resorts to telling half-truths. He shows you one side of the coin making you believe that the other side is similar. Before we proceed to talk on the American culture of death, we need to bring the philosophy of both major political parties fully into perspective. Democrats are identified with the middle class and the poor while Republicans tend by all means to represent big corporations and the rich.

At this stage, let us keep in mind that this presentation is focusing only on the fact that in the United States the culture of death is very obvious. It is being promoted by both leading political parties from a different perspective. To this end, they create a kind of vocabulary and formulate a type of phraseology in a deliberate attempt to deceive the people. The promotion and implementation of the culture of death in the entire nation has become the primary goal of each of these two major political parties.

Democrats in Operation

Democrats tend to support abortion, which is condemned by Republicans as murder. The killing of the unborn is viewed by churches and all religious groups as a heinous crime. Since the USA is predominantly a Christian nation, both Democrats and Republicans believe in the Ten Commandments, which God gave to Moses. One of them says: You should not kill. Apart from God no one on earth has the right to terminate anyone’s life. At times, Democratic politicians are rebuked and criticized by members of the clergy and leading religious groups.

Besides, several clergymen exhort the members of their congregation not to vote for political candidates that favor abortion. At this stage, the Democrats and their supporters try to find a way out by devising a new vocabulary and structuring a new phraseology. They substituted the phrase “pro-abortion” with “pro-choice” as to have their stand softened as much as possible. Also, several women’s groups that viewed abortion as a woman’s prerogative created a new terminology known as “women’s reproductive rights.”

This phraseology evolved into becoming literally the mantra of many Democratic politicians. Hence, there is no surprise in hearing Democratic senators and congressmen, and even the US president when he is a Democrat, speaking of “women’s reproductive rights.” A more recent trend among Democratic politicians is to state openly that they are personally against abortion, adding at the same time, that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is to be left solely in the hands of the woman involved.

They also recommend to the woman involved in seeking for advice from relatives and friends before proceeding with the termination of a pregnancy. But even so, Democrats view a woman’s “right” for abortion so strongly that they are now moving to urge hospitals to perform abortion when a woman requests it, otherwise they may lose any kind of governmental funding they may have. No wonder why thousands of abortions in the USA take place every month. At the same time, the Republicans remain highly critical of abortion, which they view as murder and criminal by all means.

The traditional religious teaching of various religious leaders lies here. Human life is sacred and it starts at conception. Also, human life has been always viewed as a gift of God that should be respected. Hence, we may begin to realize and understand how the philosophy of Democrats tends to be based on the culture of death. For the Democrats as the whole, human life seems to start at the moment of birth. We need now to explore how the Republicans, in spite of their respect for human life from the moment of conception, they also have their modus operandi when it comes to the promotion of the culture of death.

Republican Philosophy at Work

The Republicans have their unique way of promoting the culture of death not only in the United States but around the world as well. Like the Democrats, they have their own way in playing with words by using a type of phraseology that is meant to mislead as many Americans as they can in the entire country. As we have seen, the Democrats support the killing of human beings at their very early stage of life individually, that is, one by one. On the other hand, the Republicans seek to kill masses of people at a time.

These masses consist mostly of children, women, the elderly and the sick. To this end, they put top priority in expenditure on products and actions that would lead to their ultimate goal of mass murder. This is demonstrated in the enormous amount of money they use for the manufacture and sales of weapons. They are quick to wage wars to achieve politically what they want by all means, no matter how brutal their means may be. This explains why we witness in them the tendency to solve all kind of problems by waging as many wars as possible.

We have seen in recent times two useless and needless wars waged in Iraq and Afghanistan. It caused the nation a 2.2 trillion dollars debt and now the American people are being forced to give up their social security and medical aid to compensate for such a financial disaster. However, what makes it worse lies in the fact that Republicans refer to their destruction of the infra-structure of cities and the massacre of tens of thousands of people, amounting to millions, by the well-formulated phrase national defense and security!

When former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, was asked by reporters how many Iraqis were killed with American weapons, he was quick to say: We do not keep a count of that; we view such incidents merely as collateral damage. While Republicans view the killing of the unborn as the termination of a sacred innocent life, they view the tremendous massacre of thousands of people merely as a piece of furniture. To turn an insult into injury, most of the people killed through Republican war policies happen to be pregnant women!

So here we have the American culture of death in true perspective. While the Democrats refer to the termination of the life of the pre-born child as “woman’ reproductive rights,” The Republicans refer to the termination of the life of people at all ages through the ruthless destruction of the infrastructure of cities as “national defense and security.” This carefully formulated phrase was meant to keep prospective war critics completely silent to the best they can. To this end, the Republicans may formulate the following slogan when it comes to abortion: “Save it now and kill it later.”

Unmasking Blatant Lies

What is highly ironic in the religious sphere of the nation lies here. While self-proclaimed right-wing politicians proclaim to view the human life as sacred and that it should be safeguarded, they continue to take money from the people’s vital necessities of life as to make more weapons and wage more wars. In their foreign policies, both Democrats and Republicans continue to proclaim loud and clear that the United States is a nation of freedom and democracy! This is very misleading for obvious reasons by all means.

Instead of having our American politicians demonstrating great respect for the safeguard of human life from conception to natural death, they devise careful plans to literally destroy this sacred element with no regret whatsoever. In this respect, it is unfortunately true that in the USA we do have freedom. We have the freedom to destroy human life at any moment we like from conception to natural death. In this process, we adopt a kind of philosophy that makes us accountable to no one.

We often hear American government officials, especially through the news media, that the United States is a nation of democracy. This is due to the fact that many in the US government have a distorted concept of democracy, which is derived from the Greek: demos + kratia, that is, people + government. In democracy the people are, in essence, the ultimate power. They choose the members of their government freely to provide them with the kind life they prefer. However, in practice things are conspicuously different.

As a capitalistic nation, the United States is controlled by money and wealth. To reach the people, one has to resort to the news media: radio, press and television, which charge a fortune. In capitalism, the idea of having businesses giving a free service to the people is virtually out of question. When it comes to ultimate analysis, everything is controlled by money and wealth, which is literally anathema to the very concept of democracy. In the sphere of politics, methodical deception becomes the rule of the day.

Going back to Aristotle, some 2,500 years ago, we were always told that nemo dat quod non habet – no one gives something one does not have. If we have one hundred dollars, we can give forty or even ninety but we cannot give, say, $120 and far less $150 dollars. If people were to believe we can give them the money we promised that would have constituted deception on our part! If it has been shown that the USA does not have freedom and democracy, especially when it comes to the safeguard of the human lives, why is it that we continue to hear such a blatant lie periodically, especially from our American politicians?

Power of Big Industries

Needless to say, big industries tend to finance and control the election of many American politicians, both Democrats and Republicans. Once elected, such politicians do not hesitate to help boost the products of those corporations that financed their election. The weapons industry and the promotion of wars have turned into a very lucrative business where money is made overwhelmingly. This explains that when it comes to global conflicts and the promotion of wars both Republicans and Democrats become heavily involved.

It there is no enemy, both try to create ones as to justify their continued effort to pour more and more money for more weapons and wars. We have witnessed this in virtually every war that the USA was involved in throughout the entire 20th century. For money and wealth, US politicians continue to exploit their own people’s economy to their very own detriment. The American people at large have proved to be very good and conscientious people who do care about others by all means and they often prove to be generous.

However, the world at large judges the USA by the policies of those few in government that amount to less than one thousand individuals of a population of 300 million! In this regard, several questions have been raised in academic circles everywhere, one of which being: If the United States does not ultimately care for the welfare of its own people, how can we expect such nation to really care for the good of the population of other nations? This explains why the USA is increasingly experiencing a credibility gap around the world.

Faced with such a problem, can the USA ever succeed to be viewed as a beneficial nation? Few US politicians gave an affirmative answer. Republican Ron Paul of Texas, who ran for US President in 2012, was very critical of US big expenditures on wars. He promised that as US President he would close down 50% of the 900 US foreign military bases. This statement brought great hope among all people in the world. Let us hope and pray that the American culture of death be replaced by an American culture of life, the sooner the better.

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We may develop a good perspective of the United States government if we were to have a clear concept of its structure and modus operandi. This is very important since in theory this government is very different from the way it is in practice. Since World War II ended in 1945, the USA has invaded more than 30 nations. Each time this great nation justifies its belligerent policies by telling us that the primary purpose was to bring freedom and democracy to as many nations as possible.

Analysis of Freedom

In his writings, St. Thomas Aquinas revealed to us that nemo dat quod non habet – no one can give away something that one does not have. If we have only $100 dollars we may give $80, $60 or less but we cannot give $130, $150 or more. Our challenge here is to explore how the USA views freedom and democracy in theory and in practice. In theory, our moral freedom refers to our ability to perform anything we want that proves to be beneficial not only to ourselves but also to other people as well from every walk of life and profession.

The way the majority of US government officials talk of freedom, they seem to identify it with anarchy that is in the ability that anyone can do what one really likes as long as it is in one’s best interest. As long as there are good intentions everything seems to go and should be acceptable fully by the rest of the population. This was clearly verified in recent years in allowing people to purchase all kinds of guns they want in spite of tragic consequences.

Needless to say, we know the rest of the story. Thousands of good-law abiding citizens are killed every year including women, children, the elderly and the sick. Instead of amending portions of the US Constitution which have become fully obsolete, detrimental and outdated, like “the right to bear arms,” many US government officials continue to enforce them to the detriment of the very vast population as a whole.

The question that needs to be raised in this regard is this: If some 5,000 people are sitting in an auditorium watching a show, what would make each one of them safer, if all of these people are carrying a loaded gun or if no one in the audience is carrying any gun at all? The answer is obvious and does not need any comments. However, we need to bring to our attention here that the United States is a capitalistic nation whose ultimate goal is to pile up money and wealth without limit. In fact, one of the leading mottoes of some of the Chambers of Commerce goes as follows: The sky is not the limit!

Money as Ultimate Objective

This means the real objective in the American nation, which is deeply rooted in the minds of the vast majority of the members of Congress, is for the people to devise any plan they want that would give them as much money as possible. In view of this, we may begin to realize and fully understand why the United States has emerged to become one of the most violent nations on earth domestically to say the least. This explains why the USA tries to sell as many devastating weapons to every country that would give the right price.

Since World War II ended in 1945, the weapons industry and the military industrial complex have become very lucrative. Their job is only one, namely, to sell as many weapons and war equipment as possible as to make money without limit. This means they must create scenarios that would force the people to believe that such lethal ammunitions serve as the hope of their eventual salvation from destruction! This is outrageous because it is full of deliberate deceit. The people do not seem to have a way to know the truth.

The primary purpose of the average politician in the USA who works in Congress is not the welfare of the American people that elected them, but the boosting of the eventual products of those industries that financed their political campaign. Unfortunately, the bulk of such industries produce deadly products that threaten human lives everywhere. Very arrogantly, most US political figures defend the right for any industry to produce any products it likes, no matter how detrimental they may be to human lives, under the guise of “freedom.”

This explains while in practice the United States uses freedom in a way that is synonymous to anarchy, that is, to the ability to do what one wants regardless of how detrimental it may prove to others. As we have seen clearly, the USA does not have in practice the proper concept of freedom and, hence, it cannot promote it. This is proved by the fact that whenever the USA tries to infiltrate a nation, it always ends up bringing anarchy in that global area with numerous people suffering immensely as a consequence.

In view of this, how come the United States continues to express its will and determination to bring freedom to the people of other countries when, in essence, it has not procured its own people with that real freedom they all wish to have? As the Romans used to say: Aliud est theoria, aliud as practica – one thing is theory and another thing is practice. As long as the American nation continues to be fully controlled by big industries, it can never have freedom for its own people and far less for others. We now need to analyze the US concept of democracy as it is in theory and in practice.

Analysis of Democracy

Democracy is derived from the Greek words: demo + kratia – people + government. This concept originated in Greece more than 2,000 years ago. It meant that in a country everyone had a right to run for a political office along with the right to receive adequate publicity by way of information to prospective voters. The news media has the moral obligation to fulfill this duty among all the natives. In the United States democracy evolved to become something else. It became a tool in the hands of the rich to control the thinking of people.

The rich, along with big industries, have emerged to become fully in control of all the nation’s news media. To this end, they will only advertise those who have plenty of money at their disposal, while dumping all the rest. The phenomenal monopoly the big industries have developed over all of the news media brought about literally the death of democracy as it was always meant to be over the past two millennia. The process of the so called American democracy is characterized deliberately by well-organized elaborate fraud or deceit.

The American three branches of government have increasingly become agents of deceitful guidance in their dealings with the entire nation. It does not matter as to whether this misleading guidance stems from genuine good faith or from deliberate or intentional deceit. As far as the people are concerned, they have all become victims. As a result, they undergo great frustrations and sufferings. If your friend, say, is killed intentionally, his life is gone forever; and if your friend is killed accidently, his life is equally gone forever.

To understand and realize as to whether we have genuine democracy in the USA, we simply need to go not to the statements of politicians, but rather straight to the eventual results of their actions, especially on a long range basis. As the traditional saying goes in the USA, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This cannot be taken lightly any longer because the harm it has produced is beginning to get out of control. Let us try to bring this into perspective by evaluating some actions of the three respective branches of government.

These three US branches of government consist of the Supreme Court, the US Congress and the Whitehouse. The members of the Supreme Court consist of nine individuals nominated by the US President and then confirmed upon acceptance by Congress. They are appointed for life, that is, they may be there for ten, twenty or thirty years. No matter how they perform, the entire nation is literally stuck with them. Fairly recently, the Supreme Court declared that corporations are people! This was a very strange decision since each corporation is always referred to as “it” and never as “he” or “she.”

Wrong Directives Exposed

In the political sphere, this means that big industries could now give to candidates running for election millions of dollars without limit. This way such politicians may advertise themselves in all of the news media for their political campaign. Since in the USA people tend to vote for those with whom they feel familiar with their name, the corporations make sure that those candidates that would afterwards promote their product would be put in the office they seek. Such office is usually that of US Senator or US Congressman.

We may here group the US Senators and the US Congressmen together since, once they are elected, they tend to function identically the same. As a whole, they tend to work from the very day they take office not for the welfare of the people that elected them, but for the promotion of the products of the corporations that financed their political campaign. As a result of this vicious philosophy, we may understand many of the problems we notice periodically in the entire nation, the recent one being the governmental shut down.

If you were to spend days and months listening to the vast majority of US politicians talking, especially about reducing the phenomenal debt the USA is in at present, you hear them making all kinds of proposals, all of which are harmful to the American people. To quote some examples, they speak of cutting money from the health care system, cutting down social security, eliminating food stamps in addition to other vital items. They never speak about cutting down the elements that really created the enormous debts the USA faces.

When President Clinton left office, he left $800 million surplus. However, when his successor, President George W. Bush left office he left $2 trillion deficit! This was due to his involvement in the Iraqi war, which was viewed as illegal and immoral, in addition to the US war involvement in Afghanistan. Yet, we hardly hear political figures talking about solving problems through diplomacy and dialogues. Instead, they keep on resorting to weapons and wars as to continue to provide the military industrial complex with millions of dollars.

The United States took the initiative to attack Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to a few other nations, supposedly to bring to the people of such nations freedom and democracy. In reality, what they brought to the people of such countries was the destruction of the infrastructure of cities while wiping out homes, schools, hospitals and churches. Besides, they also created millions of refugees and killed tens of thousands of innocent people including women, children, the elderly and the sick. No wonder why the people of these invaded nations were highly critical of the American presence among them!

Showing Respect for People

In his speech at the University of Kansas in 1966, General Westmoreland who directed the Vietnam War said: I cannot understand how while we use the most sophisticated weapons, the Vietnamese come to fight us with rifles we use to shoot pigeons and yet we cannot win them. Then he added: From my experience I have to say that the best way to conquer a nation is to gain the support of the people of such a nation from the outset. And we know the rest of the story, the US military did not win in Vietnam.

Very few years ago General McChrystal who was the commander of the US forces in Afghanistan made a similar statement. That alienated US government officials in Washington, DC to the extent that President Obama had him replaced without further delay. During the middle of the war in Iraq, some humanitarian organizations visited many families there and asked them: How do you feel with the Americans here? Without hesitation they said: We were better off before they came here than after.

Within the context this means that the people in Iraq felt better under Saddam Hussein than under the US military. This humanitarian group felt somewhat curious and quickly asked: How come? The reply was again unanimous: Because before the Americans came we had our homes and we enjoyed seeing our children playing and growing. Now our homes are destroyed, while some of our children were killed or maimed. For them the presence of Americans did not signify freedom nor democracy at all.

Confronted by such realities why does the US government continue to promote struggles and wars when such elements have already destroyed the American economy for all practical purposes. Let us keep in mind that what makes a nation strong is the people revealed in their good health, quality education and adequate home facilities. It is not revealed in the military through devastating weapons and the constant waging of wars. As Pope Pius XII stated on the eve of World War II: In a war everyone is a loser, no one a winner.

During the last presidential elections, Representative Ron Paul from Texas run for the Republican nomination to become the next US President. He said that if elected President he would proceed immediately to close 50% of the American foreign military bases. He confirmed that the United States would still have more foreign military bases than all the nations of the world combined. Besides, he added, the billions of dollars saved every year could be used to provide free health care for all Americans, along with free education from the cradle to the grave. Also, he would provide all people with adequate home facilities.

Honesty the Best Policy

In dealing with each other we need to keep in mind that honesty is always the best policy. This means when we communicate with people we must make it a point that our message is always crystal clear. The Italians have a proverb which says: Chiama pane (con la parola) pane e vino (con la parola) vino – Call bread (by the name) bread and wine (by the name) wine. This is perhaps also one leading weakness in the US government that is revealed in the expressions it uses to communicate with its people and the world at large.

When the USA uses the expression national defense and security, in practice it means preparation for the promotion of wars anywhere in the world. This explains why the world is polluted with US foreign military bases that tend to make millions of people in the vicinity threatened and resentful of their presence. Besides, the USA maintains that its strong military is there to keep the American people well protected and safe. Many Americans are homeless. What is the US military doing to provide them with homes? Nothing!

What does the military do to give Americans free health care? Nothing! What does the military do to enable Americans have free education through university? Nothing! What does the military do to repair most of the bridges across the country? Nothing! The time has arrived when the objective and purpose of the military must be radically changed. If the military assumes such stated roles, most of the financial problems would be solved and the American people could then concentrate on becoming more productive in many ways.

We still have one more governmental element to handle, the Whitehouse, which is the seat of the US presidency. In almost every case, the US President is primarily concerned about the kind of image he wants to project to the nation and the world at large. Hence, the eventual dire needs of the American people do not really occupy priority. This explains why, in spite of the de facto resistance the American people show to wars, the US President may still proceed to deal with other nations through threats, struggles, and wars.

Even in the domestic sphere, when it comes to his modus operandi, the President tends to formulate policies that he believes are more popular among the American people as a whole. In quite a number of instances what seems to be the most popular does not necessarily mean that it is the right thing to do. When it comes to matter of sacrosanct principles the President is expected to have the courage to defend them the best he can without ever caving in. We may illustrate this by some example taken from the so called Obama Care, which basically deals with the vital health needs of the American people.

Problem of Abortion

In the USA there is a strong movement, especially among women, that favors abortion, which is mildly referred to as women’s reproductive rights. This means that the ultimate decision-maker in this regards is neither the government nor the church but the individual pregnant woman. Needless to say, this goes against the teachings of virtually every religion, which views the content of the Ten Commandments with great respect. One of which states: You should not kill. This generally applies to human life from conception to natural death.

In the structure of the Obama Care, the President took the initiative to enforce on the entire nation the philosophy and beliefs of the abortion movement by promising to cut off financial assistance from church-related hospitals that view abortion as the deliberate termination of human life at its early stages. In spite of the fact that the US Constitution speaks clearly on the separation of church and state, the US President took the initiative to put the church in its modus operandi fully under the control of the state.

In view of this, we may begin to understand clearly why the United States is faced with so many problems. The three branches of government – the Supreme Court, the US Congress, and the Whitehouse – do not tend to act on a clear set of rules that are in the best interest of everyone without exception. Quite a number of decisions are made by an influential minority to protect itself. This explains why the concept of freedom and democracy has been virtually lost and we need to take constructive steps in this regard.

Freedom and democracy would then become a tangible reality and the US government could then concentrate on helping the nations of the world not by providing them with weapons and military equipment but by providing them with good medical equipment and excellent educational facilities. Instead of sending them soldiers to train them for struggles and wars, we would be sending countries everywhere teachers and well trained experts in a variety of good professional fields where everyone would be a winner and no one a loser.

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In his farewell speech to the United States Congress, President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a serious warning to all the members of the American government. He said emphatically: ”Remember that all people of all countries want peace; only their government wants war.”

Sources of Human Conflicts

This means the real human conflicts in the long term are often initiated by government officials to the detriment of their very own people. In spite of the fact that they are all members of the United Nations, they literally ignore the preamble of UNESCO, which stands for United Nations, Educational, Scientific and cultural Organization.

Such preamble states: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace should be constructed.” As human beings we all tend to be guided either by the mind, which tends to be suspicious or by the heart, which is the seat of love and compassion.

From history we learn that all those who proved to be highly beneficial provided us with guidelines that stem from their heart, which is the seat of love, mercy and compassion. Among such important ones we find Confucius, Lord Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus and all the way down to Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Pope John Paul II.

Needless to say, the list goes on and on. The all believed that if we were to embrace all people from our heart with love, mercy and compassion, we will eventually create an earthly paradise that is characterized by world peace. Our heart is not only the seat of love but also the seat of numerous virtues such as meekness, appreciation, respect, modesty, patience, humility and dedication to the service of others.

Throughout history, God has been described by just one word – amor, which means love. In many ascetical writers we find the words: Ubi est amor, Deus ibi est – where there is loved there is God. When our heart nourishes love, God is there in it. God is good because He is always saturated with genuine love for all human beings without exception.

God’s Genuine Love

God’s Blessed Mother, as well as all the angles and saints, are all characterized by true love. This was especially revealed by the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje during the decade of the eighties. During this decade she proclaimed that she is the mother of all people….. of those who love her as well as of those who reject her. She affirmed that she carried in her heart deep love for every human being without exception.

When the children in Medjugorje asked her: “How come God who is so good and so lovable sends people to hell for all eternity? Maybe for 5 to 10 thousand years,” they added. The Blessed Mother assured them that God never sent anyone to hell. In fact, she added: “If it depends on Him He would take all those in hell and bring them to heaven; but they hate God so much that from the moment they die they say to God moment per moment: I hate you, I do not want you, I do not want ever to be with you.”

In view of these stated realities, Archbishop John Bereslavsky, Patriarch of the former underground Orthodox Church, formed a religious movement in an effort to help bring a permanent peace among all people from every walk of life and profession. Initially it started as a powerful spiritual group that went by the name of Mother of God Church Derjevnaya.

In recent years, it evolved to become a powerful instrument to bring about a permanent world peace in the entire world, which begins with every individual heart that is saturated with pure and genuine love for every human being by all means. After living in Russia for a number of years, this Archbishop moved to Spain where he is mostly known as Father John.

He has numerous disciples all of whom are imbued with deep love in the heart, which they constantly share with others. Of course, tens of millions across every continent whose heart if full of love for others already form a part of this spiritual world peace movement. Father John wrote hundreds of books some of which have been translated in other languages, mostly in English and Spanish. In brief, world peace will eventually take place only after we implant in every human heart genuine love.

To this end, it would be very appropriate if the scope of the military everywhere is radically and drastically changed, from waging wars to waging peace, from the destruction of nations to the solid build-up of true world communities were all of the homeless would be provided with adequate shelters to live happily and decently with their family members.

Leading Source of Peace

From studies made by humanitarian organizations over the years, the vast majority of people around the world do carry the seed of love, which is deeply rooted in their heart. Hence, they all form an integral part of the true and genuine peace movement initiated by Archbishop John Bereslavsky, whose disciples refer to him simply by Father John, as stated earlier.

Let us illustrate this by example. When a baby is born everyone knows as to whether it is a boy or a girl except the baby itself. Those that are saturated with love for others in their heart, they already form an integral part of Father John’s universal spiritual movement of world peace. The eventual awareness of such a fact is not absolutely important.

Those who wish to become acquainted with the Mother of God Church Derjevnaya, may write to: Paisi.ioanovich@gmail.com or alscatars@gmail.com or sv.gral@gmail.com among a number of other sources. This spiritual organization transcends all boundaries of division. All of its members view each other as brothers and sisters. Besides, all those who have chosen to let peace become an integral part of their heart through love may be viewed as genuine apostles of God Himself. They are also children of the Blessed Mother, who is spiritually a powerful instrument that enables us to be strong in all our endeavors.

The Virgin Mary’s deep love was expressed to the children in Medjuogrje when she told them: “I am the mother of all people whom I view as my most dear and beloved children.” No matter what relationship they choose to establish with her, this heavenly Mother keep on looking after every single human being with love and compassion.

In view of what has been stated, the real enemies of peace may be viewed as those who harbor hatred in their heart. This is generally revealed in the enormous sufferings they inflict on so many good and innocent people in the world at large, especially through the waging of wars. Our job in life is to do our best to help make the world better than the one we found. Our sacrosanct duty is to promote world peace and to put it in operation on a permanent basis. This will take place when we saturate our heart with love and compassion for others.

Over the past recorded history of 6,000 years we notice that many nations tended to solve their differences through the waging of one war after another. Needless to say, in-between wars we also observe a period of peace. As far as the people were concerned they enjoyed such periods and often hoped they would continue forever. However, as far as government officials were concerned that always proved to be a different story. As the Italians say, tra il dire e il fare c’e’ in mezzo il mare – between saying and doing there is an ocean, that is, an abyss.

Eventual Purpose of Wars

Of course, there should be a reason why wars continue to take place, especially when the population as a whole never wants to experience the tragedies of such events by all means. Scholastic philosophers tell us, quidquid contingens est causam habet -- whatever exists there must be a cause, that is, a source. And another famous dictum runs as follows, ex nihilo nihilo fit, -- nothing happens out of nothing.

Hence, wars do not pop up from the midst of nowhere. There must be a plan of some sort that would make it easier to instigate and promote wars. What is curious in our study of the nature of wars lies here. Such devices were never used to promote peace and harmony, love and compassion. On the contrary, wars often tended to stem out of jealousy and hatred and they always inflicted pain revealed mostly in the destruction of the infrastructure of cities.

Moreover, such pain is also seen in the killing and maiming of tens of thousands of innocent people, in particular women, children, the elderly and the sick. In every era of history, every government, regardless of its nature, always claimed the responsibility to look after the welfare of the people, which is revealed in providing them with a good health care system, adequate housing facilities and good education. But as long as government officials in general continue to be addicted with wars, such goals cannot be easily reached.

If we were to study the military powers that emerged in this world over the last two to three hundred years alone, we will soon find out something which is fully in common. The governments that attached priority in piling up weapons and in promoting more and more wars, ended up neglecting their people who suffered immensely as a result. Just a study of the Portuguese, Spanish, British and American empires makes us realize that the more they concentrated on the invasion of other countries and the promotion of wars, the more their respective native population suffered all kinds of deprivation.

Sources of Destruction

Nowadays, we all know that the manufacture of weapons and the military industrial complex have emerged into becoming a very lucrative business. To turn an insult into injury, the United States’ big corporations take the initiative to finance the elections of various politicians. They want to make sure that after election such politicians would do anything to boost their products, regardless of how lethal and detrimental they may prove to be to society. In the USA all the major news media are now being controlled by big corporations.

The corruption that emerged in the US government as a result has become virtually out of control. It explains why millions of people do not have enough food to eat, are deprived of adequate home facilities, and do not have easy access to vital medical needs. From a careful study of history we learn that a nation could be termed to be strong when its people are healthy and highly educated, in addition to having adequate home facilities. When this takes place then such a nation is fully self-sufficient since all the vital needs are fully there.

However, since the US government as a whole views the strength of the nation merely in military capabilities, it explains why such a nation puts top priority on the continued manufacture of weapons and military equipment. It explains why the United States, in spite of the fact that it was advised otherwise, chose to become involved in more than 30 wars following World War II. The most recent ones, all of which proved to be a disaster may be enlisted as Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

In each of such wars, thousands of young Americans lost their lives or became maimed for life, not to mention those that committed suicide. All these tragedies occurred literally needlessly. Besides, the United States was responsible for the destruction of the infrastructure of many cities which included not only the destruction of people’s homes but also the annihilation of many schools, churches and other vital sources. Besides, we may add the millions that became refugees and who led very miserable lives afterwards.

Every nation that views its strength in military terms and not in people’s health and education always ends up punishing itself severely. The US economy today is in a state of collapse because of its continued wars. The Iraqi war alone cost the USA $2 trillion dollars in debt, money that could have been used to give Americans adequate home facilities, good health care, and excellent education. A substantial number of government officials, mostly republicans, had the guts to propose the solution of the debt problem by cutting money from the vital needs of the American people, like health care, education and social security.

Deception at Work

Ironically, a number of these same government officials when they talk on radio or television, they sound like they are concerned with the welfare of the American people in general. But, as the Italians say, parole si, fatti no – words year, facts no. This means their apparent concern for the welfare of the American people as a whole is merely bla, bla, bla. The US government officials must follow the example of President Truman when he set the US President’s office for two terms of four years each.

The US Senators’ term must also be set for two terms of five years each, while the US Congressmen’s terms should also be limited for five terms of two years each. We have many young brilliant people in the USA but their chances of serving the nation in a governmental office is not that easy as long as the big corporations continued to finance their governmental buddies to remain in office for ever. Moreover, all news media must give a substantial percentage of time to cover all those running for office free-of-charge.

As the preamble of UNESCO states: Since wars begin in the minds of men it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. As we may all know, this acronym stands for United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The eventual implementation of this preamble is of paramount importance. It enables us to understand the wisdom of having periodical changes of individuals in the government. This way we may take care of the traditional saying: You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

When individuals serve a long time in a governmental position, their mind-set about anything becomes so deeply trenched that it may need a miracle like that of raising Lazarus from the dead to make them see things better and into a truer perspective. In view of what has been stated, we still have hope of not having to spend another 6,000 years of recorded history going through one war after another. The human nature is subject to corruption at one time or another. Our job is to take the first steps toward providing a better future for posterity.